Nakuru to pay pending bills in 2020/2021 financial year

Suppliers and contractors who are owed Sh400 million by Nakuru County government will be paid in the 2020/2021 financial year.

This has been revealed in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework Budget for 2020/2021 tabled at the Nakuru County Assembly on Wednesday.

PENDING BILLS

“Pending bills worth Sh400 million will be cleared in the 2020/2021 period,” reads the report tabled by the assembly Leader of Majority Moses Ndung’u Kamau.

The budgeted Sh400 million is short of Sh200 million.

The county had earlier indicated that it will require Sh600 million in the financial year 2020/2021 to settle debts in the medium term period.

The debts which accrued for the period 2013-2019, cut across the regimes of former Governor Kinuthia Mbugua and the current leadership of Governor Lee Kinyanjui.

The devolved unit inherited a Sh576 million debt from four defunct local authorities namely; County Council of Nakuru, Municipal Council of Nakuru, Municipal Council of Naivasha and Town Council of Molo.

The county owes millions of shillings to suppliers and contractors in the defunct local authorities, Nakuru Water and Sanitation Company and lawyers.

Last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that all 47 counties clear their eligible pending bills.

Under the Public Finance Management Act of 2012, the county is required to monitor, evaluate and oversee the management of public finances and economic affairs.

PUBLIC DEBT

The devolved unit is also required to manage its public debt and develop a framework of its debt control.

The Medium Term Expenditure Framework Budget report indicates that the Treasury department is facing a myriad of challenges.

The report says that the establishment of Nakuru City and Naivasha Municipal boards is likely to affect revenue targets since the revenues will be managed by the boards.

The implementation of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission proposals that salary increments, proposed contributory pension scheme, and the ageing workforce that will require to be replaced is another challenge.

“The implementation of the devolved staff pension scheme is likely to increase the wage bill,” reads the report.

The delay in release of funds by the national government is also expected to affect implementation of projects. This might result in low absorption of funds and affect service delivery.

ADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE

Lack of adequate infrastructure to support ICT in the county prevents the automation of services to improve service delivery.

Other challenges facing Treasury department include the ballooning wage bill which hinders release of more funds for development.

“The required laws that are meant to support revenue collection have not been enacted and this hinders enforcement officers in executing their mandate,” the report states.

Despite these challenges, the department managed to increase its revenue collection in the 2018/2019 financial year to Sh2.8 billion against a target of Sh2.6 billion which translates to Sh125 million above target.

Over the same financial year, the County Treasury also plans to construct a multi-million-shilling office block.