Members of Parliament have raised concern over the piling debts at the Government Press
The National Assembly Special Funds Account Committee opened investigations into the printers dealings after it emerged that among others there is an estimated Sh325.15 million in pending bills an amount that has however been questioned by the Auditor-General.
This is after a 2022 audit report revealed that the entity owes its suppliers and service providers an estimated Sh975.9 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The committee meeting with the Government Press Chief Executive Officer, Abdi Hassan Ali further established that most of the equipment under use at the press are outdated and consumes much of the entity’s allocation on maintenance.
The reliance on the outdated equipment resulted in high maintenance costs for the printer further piling the pending bills.
Hassan was before the MPs to address audit queries after the Auditor-General flagged conflicting figures and higher charges on maintenance.
The CEO told the committee chaired by Migori MP, Fatuma Zainab, that about 70 percent of the Government Press printing machines date to between 1930 and 1980.
Drawing from Auditor-General's reports, lawmakers sought explanations regarding the collection of the debts for services rendered by the printer that have remained unresolved for more than five years.
The Auditor General had raised issues with the long outstanding debts amounting to Sh68,764,954 that had been outstanding since the year 2017 and whose recovery is doubtful.
The audit also flagged inaccuracies in Cash and Cash Equivalents on the financials of the state press between July 1 2019, and June 2022.
"The statement of financial position reflects cash and cash equivalents balance of Sh325,145,992 which includes postal money orders mounting to Sh12,456, 139 owed by Postal Corporation of Kenya."
"The amount related to payments made for services rendered by the Fund for the period between 1 July, 2019 and 30 June, 2022 which had not been cashed," said the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu in the report.
However, confirmation from records held by Postal Corporation of Kenya indicated that an amount of Sh11,802,499 was owing to the Fund as at June 30, 2022 hence a variance of Sh653,640.
Although management explained they had engaged PCK for recovery of the uncleared amount, no supporting evidence was provided.
In the circumstances, the accuracy of cash and cash equivalents balance of Sh325,145,992 could not be confirmed.
Hassan said that plans were under way to mobilise funds owed to the government press.
“Among what we are doing towards improving financial standing is that we have established a dedicated section called costing, solely aimed at debt recovery,” said Hassan
The committee further questioned the CEO about the absence of a policy for asset replacement, emphasising the necessity of upgrading the machinery.
The MPs told the printer to devise strategies and introduce additional initiatives aimed at enhancing their resource mobilisation such as expanding into printing Kenyan passports.
They directed the CEO to initiate necessary reforms within the organisation, with an assurance of their commitment to compile a report outlining recommendations aimed at improving the efficiency of the Government Press.