Kenya to clear Sh650bn pending bills in 12 years at current pace
Principal Secretary, State Department for Roads Joseph Mungai Mbugua when he appeared before the John Mbadi-led Public Accounts Committee that grilled him over financial expenditure for the financial year ending 2020/21 at the parliament buildings Nairobi on February 1, 2024. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG
Kenya will take more than 12 years to clear payments to road contractors whose certified works stood at Sh650 billion as at the end of the financial year 2022/23.
The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard that the Treasury allocated Sh40 billion to clear pending bills which stood at Sh162 billion in the financial year ended to June 2023.
Roads Principal Secretary Joseph Mbugua said the infrastructure pending bills is expected to cross the Sh700 billion mark if works arising from the El Nino damages are factored into account.
“I am afraid to say that the certified pending bills will cross the Sh700 billion mark if we factor in the El Nino damages. This is over and above the certified pending bills of Sh650 billion,” Mr Mbugua said.
“As at December 2023, the certified pending bills was Sh162 billion against a provision of Sh56 billion out of which Sh40 billion will go to payments of pending bills owed to the contractors.”
Mr Mbugua told the committee chaired by nominated MP John Mbadi that the total outstanding pending bills in the roads sector stood at Sh650 billion.
He said if the Ministry gets an annual allocation of Sh50 billion to clear the pending certified works, it will take nearly 12 to 14 years to clear the payments.
“As at December 31, 2023, the pending bills for the financial year stood at Sh162 billion. This includes payments for consultancies and land compensation,” Mr Mbugua said.
“We have Sh40 billion in the current financial year to disburse for certified pending bills. This leaves a balance of Sh120 billion that ought to be paid for the last financial year.”
He said the Ministry of Roads continues to certify road works and the entire ongoing projects for all State entities is estimated to be worth Sh650 billion.
“It will take 12 years to clear all certified pending bills if we continue to get an allocation of Sh40 billion from the Treasury annually,” Mr Mbugua told the committee during the scrutiny of the Ministry’s books of accounts for the year to June 2022.
“The issue of pending bills will recur until we get the Treasury’s commitment to allocate us Sh250 billion annually for the next four years.”
Mr Mbugua said the government continues to hold the development of new projects even as it embarks on critical infrastructure programs.
The committee chaired by Mr Mbadi demanded to know if the government is engaged in new projects when the country is expected to pay a bullet of $2 billion (Sh320 billion) for the standard gauge railway (SGR) project for phase one.
“I hope we are not starting new road projects before clearance of roads pending bills. I direct that you furnish us with the details of the projects, when the amount is due, who is the contractor and who has been paid,” Mr Mbadi said.
“We want to see if you are discriminating against road contractors who have been rendering services to the government for the last one year.”
Mr Mbugua told the committee that the roads and infrastructure pending bills portfolio stands at Sh650 billion and does not include millions of shillings that the government is currently using to repair the damages caused by the El Nino rains.
“It could go beyond the Sh700 billion mark. We are still continuing to commit the country to new road projects,” Mr Mbugua said.
“I am afraid to say that we are still committing the country to new projects,” Mr Mbugua said
Philip Wachira, the chief finance officer of the State Department for Roads and Infrastructure, told the MPs that pending bills will continue to recur in audited books because of lack of adequate funding.
