Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMES) owed at least Sh10 million by the government will be given the first priority in a fresh bid to clear Sh 206 billion debts owed to vendors, Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi said on Monday, January 3.
“Analysis shows that over 90 per cent of the verified pending bills are between Sh1-Sh10 million, only 5 per cent are above Sh10 million,” CS Mbadi said in response to suspicions that nearly half of the current verified pending bills are not real.
But even as CS Mbadi assures tiny suppliers that about Sh 10 million owed to them will come through in due course, questions still linger as to whether the government will ever clear pending bills.
The pending bills seem to have gone overboard with government agencies owing the highest amount at Sh410 billion. Ministries and state departments are also yet to clear up to Sh118 billion in pending debts not only owed to contractors and projects, but also suppliers, unremitted statutory and other deductions, as well as pension arrears.
For context, as at January 30 of 2024, the Pending Bills Verification Committee had received 1,537 claims from 38 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) amounting to Sh145.5 billion. A pending bills verification committee was appointed in 2023 in a bid come up with well-thought-out conclusions and recommendations. The committee’s work has now come to an end after respective accounting officers submitted all pending bills relating to “works, goods, services and employee/labour” running from 2005 to June 30, 2022.
“95% of the Sh 206 billion are amount less than KSh 10 million owed to Micro Small and Medium Entreprises (MSMEs),” Mbadi told reporters on Thursday, January 30. “We are taking the decision… as agreed in the Cabinet chaired by President William Ruto, to make a provision in the Supplementary Budget II to clear these small bills owed to MSMEs so that we only remain with the bigger bills.”
