Senator Allan Chesang has sought a statement from the standing committee on Finance and Budget regarding concerns over budgeting and accounting malpractices in Trans Nzoia County.
Sen. Chesang noted that there are concerns about new practices that are making the county’s long standing problem of unpaid bills even worse.
The County Executive, the legislator claimed, is not only delaying payments that have already been requested but is also redirecting funds that had been set aside for approved pending bills.
He stated that the situation has weakened effective service delivery in the county, denying local contractors what is rightfully due to them and exposing them to serious financial hardship and suffering.
Trans Nzoia pending bills woes
The Lawmaker called upon the Committee to provide details of all pending payments for goods supplied and services provided to the County Executive, departments and agencies including the contracted amounts, amounts paid, outstanding arrears, names of contractors, departments supplied or served and the accounting officers currently in charge and those who were in charge when the pending bills were incurred.
The Committee is expected to give details of all contractors paid in the FY 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, indicating the nature of services or goods provided and the status of their payments.
Further, the Committee has been tasked to give a clarification on payment requisitions for pending bills for services provided to the County Executive and departments in FY 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, including whether all releases approved by the Controller of Budget (COB) were paid to the respective contractors, together with evidence of the requisitions sought and approved by the COB.
The Committee Chaired by Sen. Ali Roba (Mandera) is also required to state reasons why the county continues to accumulate pending bills and fails to pay for services after requisitions are made, including failure to follow a first in first out basis, procurement of goods and services without budget allocations and diversion of funds approved for settlement of outstanding payments.
The UDA Party Legislator also wants the Committee to provide analysis of the itemized budget for the FY 2025/26, highlighting approved allocations for settlement of outstanding pending bills as well as the proposed itemized Budget for the FY 2026/27 and measures towards expeditious settlement of pending bills incurred by the current County Executive on a first in first out basis.
