Ndungu: Cabinet to form pending bills audit committee

The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu has revealed that the government will form a special pending bills committee in the cabinet to verify the Sh537. 2 billion owed to contractors.

Speaking when he delivered the 2023-24 financial estimates in Parliament, Ndungu said a total of Sh450 pending bills were reported by state corporations by March 31.

He also said a total of Sh79.3 billion pending bills were reported by government ministries and state agencies while counties reported Sh159.7 billion.

"The management of pending bills is a challenge and in the public eye it will form an important benchmark upon which the overall financial management of government will be charged," Ndungu said.

He said that the National Treasury has already prepared a memo that will be tabled in the cabinet seeking to establish the pending bills special committee.

Ndung'u said once the committee is established, it will validate all the pending bills and also develop a framework on how they will be settled.

"Once the pending bills are cleared, the National Treasury will authorise that they be a first charge for the entities in subsequent budgets," he said.

Suppliers and contractors have been protesting that they have never been paid by the government despite delivering goods, services or completing works.

They have been petitioning the government to accelerate their payments so as to avoid imminent adverse actions by creditors.