Natembeya wants Sh400 million debts audited by Auditor General

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya. [File, Standard]

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya wants Auditor General Nancy Gathungu to help in the scrutiny of Sh400 million that the county allegedly owes contractors.

Natembeya told the contractors that an audit would reveal the actual work they completed and the extent of the debts owed by the county government.

"We have set aside Sh190 million to pay some of the pending bills in the current financial year, but we want to seek the help of the Auditor General to ascertain the actual pending bill," said Natembeya.

Governor Natembeya stated that his administration wanted to ensure that payments were only made for genuine works and supplies.

Natembeya also insisted that contractors who flouted procurement procedures will not be paid, saying doing so would amount to fraud.

"High-level of integrity must be observed in the procurement process, and cases of compromise will not be condoned at all," he said.

The governor stated that the administration intends to manage its finances by only offering contracts within the budget limits.

"We also want to start paying contractors quarterly so that we do away with this habit of having ballooned pending bills," he said.

He condemned alleged cases of corruption where some contractors collude with procurement officers to manipulate tendering processes in their favor.

"We want an end to these cases of contractors having to bribe procurement officers in order to win contracts. We want the process to be done competitively," the governor pledged.

The county boss also said his administration will widen the scope of procurement to ensure more contractors access government procurement opportunities.

The secretary of contractors Peter Ouma said they wanted to be paid for the services they rendered to the county government. He added that some of them had incurred loans to finance their work, putting their properties used as collateral on the line.