The county government of Murang’a is working to clear all pending bills amounting to more than Sh600 million by December this year.
In a public notice on settlement of pending bills, the devolved administration has indicated that after review of 514 pending bills, 171 claims amounting to sh642, 197, 909, were cleared for payment.
The notice which was published in local dailies stated that so far three trenches of pending bills totaling to sh140, 353, 705 have been paid.
“Another trench of approximately Sh. 50 million is currently being processed and will be paid before the end of April,” read part of the notice.
In September last year, Governor Irungu Kang’ata constituted a committee for the purpose of verifying, scrutinizing and analyzing unpaid claims on account of provision of goods and services.
Payment of the eligible bills, the county administration stated, shall be informed by the order in which claimants appeared before the committee, exchequer releases and availability of budgetary vote in either the recurrent or development budget.
“Bills falling under the recurrent budget amounting to Sh. 340 million will be paid from august this year. Pending bills relating to legal representation will be addressed through the new budget lines of the next financial year budget. Payment for this will commence in September this year,” read part of the notice.
Contractors and suppliers whose bills were rejected, were advised to appeal to the County Ineligible Bills Committee or lodge their appeals, with the office of auditor general.
“Pending bills that were deemed to be out of scope can only be paid once approved by the auditor general,” the notice further indicated.
The county administration further referred the pending bills totaling to Sh. 400 to the county assembly for deliberation and guidance on the way forward.
The county assembly is expected to come up with a report by mid-June this year, with a view of having its implementation by October.
Meanwhile, Kang’ata administration has outlined various transformative measures to avoid future pending bills.
The measures include staffing the county attorney with two advocates, recruiting chief officers for revenue and engaging professional accountants.
“Going forward, procurement shall be done through IFMIS open tender system and contractors are advised to ensure that all projects are finalized on or before 20th of June of any financial year in order to avoid rolling over to the next financial year with a pending bill,” stated the notice.
By Bernard Munyao
