Counties yet to settle Sh128.9b arrears despite payment plan

Pending bills continue to haunt county governments, with Nairobi topping the list of counties with the highest debts.

A review of the first-half financial year 2021/2022 County Governments Budget Implementation Report revealed county governments failed to settle pending bills despite preparing a payment plan to settle all bills at the beginning of FY 2021/22.

The report reveals outstanding pending bills stood at Sh128.94 billion as of December 31, 2021.

Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Wajir, Machakos and Tana River are among counties with the highest level of pending bills at Sh84.01 billion, Sh5.12 billion, Sh4.29 billion, Sh3.82 billion, Sh2.80 billion and Sh2.41 billion respectively.

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o in the report said during the period under review, the county governments reported payments amounting to Sh11.2 billion towards pending bills out of the self-reported stock of pending bills of Sh140.14 billion reflected in the payment plans.

She advised county governments to prioritise payment of pending bills in the budget for the FY 2021/22 before embarking on new financial commitments.

Baringo County’s pending bills amounted to Sh195.27 million and comprised of Sh19.93 million for recurrent expenditure and Sh175.34 million for development expenditure.

At the beginning of FY 2021/22, Baringo County had prepared and submitted a payment plan to settle the entire bills in the financial year. During the period under review, pending bills amounting to Sh191.47 million were settled, consisting of Sh19.91 million for recurrent expenditure and Sh171.55 million for development programmes. Outstanding pending bills as of December 31, 2021, were worth Sh3.8 million.

Bomet County as of June 30, 2021, had pending bills amounting to Sh520.73 million and comprised of Sh68.4 million for recurrent expenditure and Sh452.33 million for development expenditure.

During the period under review, pending bills amounting to Sh316.01 million were settled, consisting of Sh34.24 million for recurrent expenditure and Sh281.78 million for development programmes. Outstanding pending bills as of December 31 2021 were worth Sh.204.71 million.

The County Government of Bungoma as of June 2021 had outstanding pending bills amounting to Sh978.77 million. During the period under review, pending bills amounting to Sh349.75 million were settled leaving an outstanding pending bill of Sh629.02 million.

The County Government of Busia, the report revealed had outstanding pending bills amounting to Sh799.79 million as of June 30, 2021. During the period under review, pending bills amounting to Sh107.67 million were settled, leaving an outstanding pending bill of Sh692.12 million.

Elgeyo Marakwet County, on the other hand, settled Sh39.16 million of the total Sh52.87 million.

Embu County Government settled Sh681.20 million of the total Sh2.05 billion. Garissa County settled Sh306.47 million of the total outstanding Sh1.24 billion.

The County Government of Homa Bay had an outstanding pending bill of Sh575.57 million as of June 30, 2021. During the period under review, the county settled pending bills amounting to Sh554.61 million. Outstanding pending bills as of December 31, 2021, were worth Sh20.96 million.

Isiolo County Government settled pending bills amounting to Sh66.40 million. The county as of December 31, 2021, had an outstanding pending bill amounting to Sh1.26 billion.

Kajiado County Government as of December 2021 was valued at Sh1.16 billion. The county only managed to settle Sh288.11 million during the period under review.

Kakamega County’s current outstanding pending bills outstanding are Sh138.85 million comprising of Sh34.76 million and Kshs.104.09 million for recurrent and development respectively. The outstanding pending bills as of June 30, 2021, amounted to Sh588.70 million.

Kirinyaga only paid Sh10.14 million leaving an outstanding bill of Sh391.98 million.

Kwale County’s outstanding bill as of June 30, 2021, amounted to Sh1.55 billion. The report noted that the county did not provide a report on payment of pending bills in the reporting period.

Laikipia County paid Sh228.62 million of the total Sh949.12 million outstanding pending bills.

Lamu County at the beginning of the financial year reported a pending bill of Sh97.17 million. During the period under review, pending bills amounting to Sh17.07 million were settled.

The report further revealed counties reported low expenditure on development budget, which was Sh25.93 billion and represented an absorption rate of 13.5 per cent of the County Governments’ cumulative annual development expenditure budget of Sh192.29 billion.

High expenditure on personnel emoluments at Sh90.73 billion was also reported.

Pending bills per county as of December 31, 2021

1.      Baringo County-Sh3.8 million

2.      Bomet County-Sh204.71 million.

3.      Bungoma County-Sh629.02 million

4.      Busia-Sh692.12 million

5.      Elgeyo Marakwet-Sh13.71

6.      Embu-Sh1.369 billion

7.      Garissa County-Sh0.9 billion

8.      Homa Bay County- Sh20.96 million

9.      Isiolo-600 million

10.  Kajiado- Sh1.16 billion

11.  Kakamega- Sh588.70 million

12.  Kericho-146.87 million

13.  Kilifi- Sh1.46 billion

14.  Kiranyaga- Sh391.98 million

15.  Kisii-Sh337.34 million

16.  Kisumu-Sh1.79 billion

17.  Kitui-Sh739.6 million

18.  Machakos-Sh2.80 billion

19.  Makueni- Sh6.37 million

20.  Marsabit- Sh925.84 million.

21.  Meru- Sh757.38 million

22.  Migori- Sh807.0 million

23.  Mombasa-Sh4, 287.66 million.

24.  Murang’a-Sh1,546.28 million

25.  Nakuru- Sh825.67 million

26.  Nandi- Sh682.57 million.

27.  Nyamira-Sh183.84 million

28.  Nyandarua-Sh 866.52 million

29.  Nyeri-Sh26.59 million

30.  Samburu-Sh634.24 million

31.  Siaya-Sh298.19 million

32.  Taita Taveta-Sh657.14 million

33.  Tana River-Sh2.41 billion

34.  Tharaka Nithi-Sh195.25 million

35.  Trans Nzoia-Sh1,510.56 million

36.  Turkana-Sh899.03 million

37.  Uasin Gishu-Sh65.28 million

38.  Vihiga-Sh 690.58 million

39.  Wajir-Sh 3.82 billion

40.  West Pokot-Sh129.72 million