Kenya’s Pending Bills Committee to Advise National Treasury on Unsettled Debts

Today, in Nairobi, the Pending Bills Verification Committee is set to present its status report to the National Treasury. The committee, established to review the national government’s outstanding bills, will provide crucial recommendations for settling these arrears. As of January 31, 2024, a staggering Sh145.5 billion in unpaid pending bills had been submitted by 1,537 companies to the government. These claims were spread across 38 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). The submitted claims included 309 for goods, 995 for services, 1,197 for work, and 2 for employee- or labor-related requests. Edward Ouko, the Committee’s chairman, has assured the public that the report will shed light on the scale of the eligible pending bills and offer policy suggestions for their clearance. The committee’s report is particularly timely, given the government’s current challenges in settling outstanding debts to both private and public entities.