Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called on the Council of Governors (CoG) and state agencies to expedite the settlement of pending bills for the financial year 2022/23.
The calls were made by Gachagua when he hosted the CoG, state agencies, and top government officials during the 22nd Ordinary session of the Intergovernmental Budget Economic Council (IBEC) meeting at his residence in Karen on Monday, January 29.
The Deputy President further emphasized the government’s dedication to ensuring the timely disbursement of funds to counties, noting that payments are nearly current up to December 2023.
Gachagua also that timely release of funds enables the circulation of cash to the people and thus fosters economic growth.
“Prompt payments for goods and services releases funds to our people and spurs economic growth for a better and vibrant economy. Let money circulate,” he said.
The Deputy President also called on leaders to collaborate with the national government in the fight against corruption, which poses a threat to the escalating wage bill.
Gachagua stressed the need to address the challenges posed by the rising wage bill and emphasized that corruption is a menace affecting both levels of government.
“We must tackle the threats of a rising wage bill. Corruption is a threat to both levels of government let us work collectively to put in place control measures to monetize the use of public funds for procurement and expenditure to be within the law,” stated Gachagua.
The request comes at a time when suppliers and contractors who did work in previous administration have called on the government to clear their payments.
Notably, some current county governments withheld payments inorder to conduct audits and weed out scrupulous payments. However, this has also punished contractors who genuinely did work for the government.
