The Executive Office of the President has revealed that the majority of the KSh14.5 billion in pending bills recorded in the 2023/24 financial year were inherited from the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Appearing before the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, June 16, Principal Administrative Secretary in the president's office, Arthur Osiya, confirmed the pending bills as flagged by the Auditor General, stating that only a fraction of the amount was incurred by the president's office during the financial year.

According to the Auditor-General's report, the outstanding obligations were not settled during the year under review and were instead carried forward to the 2024/2025 financial year.

The report warned that failure to settle bills in the year they arise could negatively affect the implementation of future government programmes.

📌 What You Need to Know

“Failure to settle bills in the year to which they relate adversely affects the implementation of the subsequent year’s budgeted programmes, as the outstanding bills form a first charge on that year’s budget provision,” the report stated in part.

Responding to the concerns, Osiya acknowledged that the pending bills stood at Ksh 14.5 billion. However, Ksh14.1 billion of the amount is related to historical liabilities inherited from the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

At the same time, Ksh386 million of the amount was incurred by the office headquarters during the 2023/24 financial year.

"On the historical pending bills relating to NMS, the office has since submitted them to the Pending Bills Verification Committee under the National Treasury for review," Osiya told the MPs.

This means that more than 97 per cent of the pending bills cited in the audit report are linked to obligations inherited from NMS, which was dissolved after its functions were transferred back to Nairobi City County.

The latest audit probe comes as parliament intensifies scrutiny of government expenditure and outstanding liabilities across ministries, departments and state agencies amid growing concerns over the accumulation of pending bills in the public sector.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke