National Gov't Pending Bills Stretch To Ksh.468 Billion

 By Kepha Muiruri For Citizen Digital

Pending bills by the national government soared to Ksh.467.7 billion at the end of 2021 from Ksh.423.2 billion in the quarter ended in September.

The double-digit growth in the supplier arrears is despite a push by the government to cut back on the supplier arrears including through the prioritization of payments.

88.6 per cent of the pending bills or Ksh.414.2 billion accrue to State Corporations and Ministerial State Departments (MDAs).

The State Corporations’ pending bills include payments to contractors, suppliers, unremitted statutory and other deductions and pension arrears for local authorities’ pension trusts.

About half of the bills belong to contractors on projects and suppliers according to new disclosures by the National Treasury.

The rise in pending bills come as supplier lobbies push for payments ahead of the end of the term for the Jubilee administration in August.

For instance, the Association of Public Sector General Suppliers (APSGS) has claimed nearly Ksh.300 billion in arrears.

In contrast, Counties owed a mere Ksh.10.8 billion in outstanding eligible bills as of June last year according to data from the Office of the Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget.