Indebted counties blame Treasury for money woes

Delays by the National Treasury in the disbursement of funds to counties are causing havoc across the country as key services, including health, agriculture and roads, go unfunded and traders face the auctioneer's hammer.

Patients in health centres where drugs have not been supplied for months are some of the most affected.

From the coast to the west, it is a tale of pain for many people.

In Bungoma County for example, residents say the last time Kabuchai Health Centre received medicine supplies was in December last year.

At least two patients have died in the facility in recent weeks due to what is said to be lack of medicine.

LAWSUIT

Farmers are also suffering because agricultural extension services have virtually collapsed.

In the North Rift, a showdown is looming between contractors and county governments over unpaid dues for work done.

Some of the contractors and suppliers have threatened to move to court to recover the money amounting to billions of shillings.

In Nandi, the county government owes road contractors Sh1.2 billion for services provided between 2014 and 2018.

Some of the contractors have sued the county government to recover their money after banks that advanced them loans moved to auction them.

“I took several bank overdrafts and soft loans from friends to complete a road project, trusting that the County Government would pay but it has taken almost two years without receiving payment,” Mr Luka Ruto, a road contractor, said.

“The county government has never honoured its pledge to settle the payment despite waiting for too long,” Mr Mathew Mutwol said.

REVENUE

The County Executive in charge of Finance, Mr Alfred Keter, blamed the situation on delays by the National Treasury in making the payment.

“We have to wait for disbursement of funds from the National Treasury to enable us settle the pending bills,” he said.

In Trans Nzoia, some contractors and suppliers have gone to court over pending bills amounting to Sh300 million.

According to court records, there are more than 10 suits filed by various individuals and companies against the regional government.

County Secretary Sifuna Wakofula also attributed the delayed payment to low local revenue generation.

"The failure to attain the set financial targets has subjected us to financial challenges but we are determined to settle the bills,” Mr Sifuna said.

DEVELOPMENT

In Kisumu, Finance executive Nerry Achar said Sh466 million is owed for development while Sh180 million is for recurrent expenditure.

He blames this for huge debt they inherited from the previous administration.

“We inherited Sh3.5 billion. And out of this, we have managed to pay and reduce the amount to Sh646 million,” Mr Achar said in an interview with the Nation.

He indicated that they have to rebudget to ensure they clear some of the debts.

In Mombasa, the county government said the debts had led to some development projects stalling.

“We cannot give an approximate amount of money that we have as pending bills because the debt has been accumulating every year. But it is getting worse as we speak especially on matters development,” Communications director Richard Chacha said.

INHERITED DEBT

In Tana River, the administration said it was yet to pay Sh900 million to its contractors.

Finance executive Matthew Babwoya said the county government had cleared pending bills to the tune of Sh800 million this year, and was still in the process of rolling out payment of other bills.

“Since we came into office, we have been battling with the issue of pending bills that have threatened to derail our activities, but we have already started addressing them,” he said.

He said the National Treasury was yet to disburse cash for May and June 2018.

The new administration had inherited pending bills amounting to Sh1.7 billion. The debts are a huge blow to the development plans.

In Taita Taveta, the devolved unit said it has started paying some of the pending bills inherited from the previous regime.

Economic adviser Sylvester Mwaliko said contractors and suppliers will be paid according to a report that was forwarded to Governor Granton Samboja.

He said that out of the Sh900 million owed to the contractors and suppliers, more than Sh500 million could not be paid due to lack of documents.