The Pending Bills Verification Committee has raised questions over Sh268 billion in unpaid bills it received for payment from various sectors that supplied goods and services to the government.
According to a preliminary report submitted to the National Assembly Liaison Committee, some of the Sh268 billion pending bills lack documentation while some of their delivery documents are not in order and therefore cannot be paid.
However, the audit committee chaired by former Auditor-General Edward Ouko has cleared for payment Sh206 billion out of the cumulative Sh664 billion in pending bills it received.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, while clarifying the status of the pending bills so far, said the committee is yet to complete its work as it has only analysed 48 percent of the bills presented to it.
“The committee has received a total of Sh664 billion as pending bills from individuals, corporate bodies and companies. The committee is yet to complete its work but has so far certified Sh206 billion as eligible for payment,” he said.
The Cabinet secretary said the committee has so far analysed Sh474 billion out of the total Sh655 billion pending bills presented to it.
“What I presented to the committee on the status of pending bills is just a preliminary report, the team is yet to complete its work, and they may even add more. So we are still waiting for the final report,” said Mr Mbadi.
“As of now, if the government has money, the Sh206 billion should be paid.”
According to documents submitted by the National Treasury to the Liaison Committee, energy, infrastructure and ICT, health, education, public administration and international relations, agriculture and urban development, and national security are among the sectors with the highest outstanding bills that have been verified for payment so far.
A total of Sh97 billion in energy, infrastructure and ICT, Sh41 billion in health, Sh28 billion in education and Sh20 billion in national security have been approved for payment by the committee.
Other sectors with the highest outstanding bills that have been cleared for payment include environment, water and natural resources with Sh3.7 billion, general economic and trade affairs with Sh1.2 billion and agriculture and urban development with Sh2.2 billion in certified outstanding bills.
Mr Mbadi did not indicate when the government would settle the certified pending bills.
The government set up a verification committee in September 2023 to deal with the ever-growing pending bills owed to Kenyans by the government. The pending bills are both current and historical.
The pending bills are categorised as either goods, services, works, employee related, court awards, legal representation, loans granted and human and wildlife related.
According to the document, out of the 33,634 bills with a total value of Sh209 billion received for those who offered goods to the government, the committee has analysed 23,376 and approved 1,332 bills with a net value of Sh11 billion for payment.
For those who provided services, the committee received 33,074 cases with a total value of Sh144 billion, has so far analysed 14,110 and approved 8,833 bills with a net value of Sh38 billion for payment.
In the employee-related category, the committee received 33,322 bills with a net value of Sh104 billion, has so far analysed 2,316 and has so far cleared 1,411 bills with a total value of Sh3.4 billion for payment.
For those providing various services, the committee received 3,396 bills with a total value of Sh201 billion, has so far analysed 2,316 and cleared 657 bills with a net value of Sh103 billion for payment.
The committee also received 12,053 pending bills related to human-wildlife conflict with a total value of Sh3.4 billion. The committee has so far recommended Sh240 million for payment of such cases.
The Pending Bills Review Committee is mandated to review and analyse the existing national government pending bills that have accumulated and make recommendations to the government on their settlement.
The Ouko-led committee is also mandated to establish clearly defined criteria for the detailed scrutiny and analysis of such pending bills or claims to determine their authenticity or otherwise.
The committee should also identify any cases where there may have been corrupt, fraudulent and false claims against the government and make appropriate recommendations to the relevant government agencies and develop reforms or measures to ensure that future accumulation of pending bills is avoided.
On completion of its work, the committee is expected to make recommendations to the National Treasury on the necessary measures to be taken for the satisfactory disposal or settlement of identified pending bills or claims.
