Contractors await Treasury’s verdict as review on Sh518.7bn pending bills nears completion
As the verification process nears completion, contractors eagerly await the outcome, hoping that their claims will be validated and payments will be processed.
The government is nearing the completion of its extensive examination of Sh518.7 billion worth of pending bills, a process that began in 2023. This scrutiny, which involves a total of 65,627 pending bills, aims to clear the way for contractors who have faced long delays in receiving payments for their work.
The National Treasury has revealed that the bills being reviewed date back as far as June 1, 2005, and extend to June 30, 2022.
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While the total amount under scrutiny is Sh518.7 billion, it is still unclear exactly how many contractors are involved or how much of the total will be paid.
The verification process has been a crucial step in ensuring that only legitimate and verifiable bills are cleared for payment.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, in a report tabled in Parliament, said the verification committee has already analysed 65,627 pending bills, categorised by sectors and statuses, and gave recommendations on how each should be handled.
He further explained that the analysis is based on the status of the bills, their respective sectors, and the categories they fall under.
“Since its inauguration, the committee has analysed a total of 65,627 pending bills, which are valued at Sh518.7 billion. The analysis of these 14 bills was conducted based on their status, sectors, categories, and recommendations for settlement,” Mbadi said.
Number of contractors
Despite the ongoing scrutiny, there remains uncertainty about how many of the 114,376 contractors now involved in the process will be successful in their claims. The number of claimants had risen significantly, from 94,997 just a few months earlier in September, illustrating the widespread concern among contractors who have been waiting for years to be paid.
The state had previously frozen payments for these bills, citing the need for a thorough review to ensure that only valid claims would be processed.
The verification committee’s role was to weed out any fictitious or unverifiable claims. This step came after the Treasury reported in October last year that Sh200 billion worth of bills had been rejected, raising suspicions that they were fabricated.
Contractors, many of whom have faced severe financial strains, have been vocal about the impact of these payment delays. Some have had to halt expansion plans and freeze hiring, further highlighting the seriousness of the cash flow problems.
State corporations hold the bulk of these pending bills, accounting for more than three-quarters of the total. The remainder of the bills are spread across various ministries, departments, and other entities.
Treasury’s efforts to clear the backlog of unpaid bills began in 2023 when the committee was tasked with reviewing over Sh600 billion worth of pending bills.
This initiative aims to provide much-needed financial relief to contractors and restore trust in the payment processes of government agencies.
As the verification process nears completion, contractors eagerly await the outcome, hoping that their claims will be validated and payments will be processed.
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