DP wants governors to settle Sh150.6 billion pending bills
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has urged governors to settle pending bills.
What you need to know:
- “We need to do more to settle all eligible pending bills and process all that is considered ‘in-eligible’ to the satisfaction of our businessmen at both levels of government,” Mr Gachagua said.
Governors across all 47 counties have been asked to focus on settling the eligible pending bills which now stand at Sh150.66 billion.
This was the plea from Deputy President Mr Rigathi Gachagua in his opening remarks during the 23rd session of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), which took place at his official residential place in Karen on Monday.
“We need to do more to settle all eligible pending bills and process all that is considered ‘in-eligible’ to the satisfaction of our businessmen at both levels of government,” Mr Gachagua said.
Mr Gachagua said that the Kenya Kwanza administration is committed to timely disbursement of funds to counties.
However, the DP said that there has been a reduction of Sh8.6 billion in the pending bills for the last nine months, representing a reduction of 5.4 per cent.
On disbursement of funds to counties, the DP said that 66.5 per cent of the total allocation has been disbursed despite the fiscal revenue challenges.
He also noted that Climate Change is increasingly becoming a threat to the existence of human beings, which has led to the recent catastrophe.
“We moved from one of the longest droughts in four decades, into the deluge of El Nino. Even before recovery from the adverse impacts of the two disasters, we are in another season of enhanced rains.”
Mr Gachagua said that more than 30 counties have been mostly affected by the ongoing rains, and more than 210 people have been killed.
“While hundreds of our people have been displaced, we have lost more than 210 lives, besides the enormous livelihoods. Roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been destroyed.”
As the country continues to grapple with the wrath of Mother Nature, budgeting for disaster response is one of the agenda items that is being deliberated in the session.
