Treasury CS John Mbadi speaks during Bunge la Mwananchi forum on Monday, February 3, 2025. /SCREENSHOTNational Treasury CS John Mbadi has appealed to Kenyans to share their views with him and the ministry on how best to steer the country's economic recovery strategy.
Speaking on Monday during a Bunge la Mwanachi forum in Nairobi, Mbadi said his deliberate about moving away from the norm and adopting an open door policy where views from Kenyans are adopted into shaping the country's destiny.
"I'm being transparent and open; long gone are the days when Cabinet secretaries for Finance would only be seen with briefcases going to Parliament to read budget speeches. We must engage more, please give me an open door for me to engage with you. Give me ideas that can help this economy move forward.
"I may not be perfect, but I will be listening. I earn one million (shillings), but I work for people, some of whom earn nothing, and I want to listen to those people who earn nothing," Mbadi said.
While emphasising the need for dialogue, Mbadi said rebuilding the country's economy is a collective responsibility, which he cannot achieve as an individual.
Speaking in retrospect, the Treasury CS mentioned that the country almost plunged into anarchy during the Gen Z-led protests because the government was accused of not listening to its people.
He said, in the spirit of accountability, he's open to even negative opinions about his performance, but emphasized that such divergent views be expressed respectfully.
"I respect any opinion however you put it, just tell me what you think, even if you think I'm doing shoddy work at National Treasury; just tell me so that I may consider whether to resign or continue with my work," he said.
The CS said that Treasury has already committed Sh663 billion from the supplementary budget to the Pending Bills Committee to analyse their validity, and thus far, the committee has verified Sh474 billion worth of pending bills, out of which Sh206 billion have been verified and approved for payment.
Mbadi said the government has committed to clear all pending bills below Sh10 million owed to small businesses before tackling larger amounts in the next budget.
"Ninety-five per cent of those invoices are from people who have supplied goods and services to the government of not more than Sh10 million. These are small businesses," he said.
"We have not reached where we want to be, but we are making deliberate efforts."
