A government audit by the Pending Bills Verification Committee has revealed that 

According to a preliminary report presented to the National Assembly Liaison Committee, the audit—led by former Auditor-General Edward Ouko—found that many records were either incomplete or missing critical delivery documents, raising concerns over accountability in public spending.

Despite these discrepancies, the committee has verified KES206 billion as legitimate and eligible for settlement. 

“The committee has received a total of Kes664 billion in pending bills from individuals, corporate bodies, and companies. While it has yet to complete its work, it has so far certified KES206 billion as eligible for payment,” said National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi last week.

CS Mbadi noted that the audit committee has only analysed KES474 billion out of the total Kes 655 billion in pending claims. This is 48 percent of the bills and means that the number will potentially go up as the review progresses.

“What I presented to the committee on the status of pending bills is just a preliminary report. The team has yet to complete its work and may even add more claims. So, we are still waiting for the final report,” CS Mbadi stated.

According to National Treasury documents submitted to the committee, Energy, Infrastructure, and ICT sectors have the highest outstanding verified bills, amounting to Kes97 billion. This is followed by Health at Kes41 billion, Education with Kes28 billion, and National Security with Kes20 billion.

Other sectors with verified pending bills include Environment, Water, and Natural Resources with Kes3.7 billion, General Economic and Trade Affairs with Kes1.2 billion and Agriculture and Urban Development with Kes2.2 billion.

According to the report, the committee also reviewed pending bills for goods supplied to the government, services rendered and employee related claims. It found that out of 33,634 pending bills, valued at Kes 209 billion, related to goods supplied to the government, the committee has analysed 23,376 and approved 1,332 claims worth Kes 11 billion for payment.

When it comes to services rendered, the committee has analysed 14,110 out of the 33,074 claims totalling Kes 144 billion submitted, and approved 8,833 claims worth Kes 38 billion for payment.

Employee-related claims amount to Kes 104 billion from 33,322 applications. They have reviewed only 2,316 and cleared 1,411 claims worth Kes 3.4 billion for payment. Additionally, 12,053 claims related to human-wildlife conflict, totaling Kes 3.4 billion, were received, with Kes 240 million approved for settlement while other services have 3,396 pending claims amounting to Kes 201 billion. The committee has analysed 2,316 and approved 657 claims with a total value of Kes 103 billion for payment.

The Pending Bills Verification Committee was formed in September 2023 to address the growing backlog of unpaid claims owed to businesses and individuals. It is mandated to analyse the government’s unpaid obligations and make recommendations on settlement. Moreover, the committee is also tasked to establish clear criteria for verifying pending bills and identifying fraudulent claims, corruption, or false submissions, forwarding such cases to relevant authorities.

These bills include both current and historical obligations, classified under goods, services, works, employee-related claims, court awards, legal representation, loans, and human-wildlife conflict compensation.

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