This archive report was first published on 18 December 2019.
As of October 31st, 2019, only 12 counties had cleared their pending bills, while the national government had pending bills amounting to 96.1 billion shillings and county governments owed 88.98 billion shillings.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiangi has accused county governors of using pending bills as a political card, stating that they are holding on funds belonging to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) who delivered on their tenders years ago.
Dr. Matiangi has directed all county governments with pending eligible bills due to suppliers and contractors as at June 2018 and varied and confirmed by the Auditor General to be cleared with immediate effect.
He further stated that the national government has already cleared nine billion shillings and plans to clear the remaining debt are in place.
According to the National Treasury, going forward, disbursement of funds to county governments shall be based on the progress made in the settlement of pending bills, with counties required to give a monthly status report on all bills paid.
