Treasury Cabinet Secretary nominee John Mbadi has vowed to introduce a new accounting system to help address the issue of pending bills if approved.
He was answering a question about plans to address the problem that has been observed over the years, particularly in the counties.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula had stressed that some individuals were paying a bribes to have their pending bills prioritised.
"You remember about eights years ago, there was a committee verify pending bills, it became a toll station and it was all doing was to go to a town liken Eldoret pitch in a hotel and people with so-called pending bills turned up with briefcases and have their pending bills approved," Wetangula he said.
He said while Public Finance Management Act provides that pending bills should be prioritised, there is a need to criminalise the failure by some government entities to pay.
"I will make sure that we have a system in place which locks anyone who attempts to pay a new bill and ignoring an old one...the system can lock you out, so that first in first out. If a bill is supposed to be payable let it be paid," he stated.
Acknowledging that pending bills was a matter of grave concern, Mbadi alleged that most of them are fictitious.
He pointed out that the pending bills verification committee chaired by Edward Ouko has so far received over Sh663 billion claims.
Mbadi is among the five nominees scheduled to appear today for vetting.
Others are Salim Mvurya (Trade), Rebecca Miano (Tourism), Opiyo Wandayi (Energy), and Kipchumba Murkomen (Sports).
Mbadi currently serves as the chair of the powerful Public Accounts Committee, which is responsible for holding to account ministries, departments and agencies.
