Nairobi, Kenya – The National Treasury has disclosed that the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and the National Youth Service (NYS) hold the top spots for unsettled national government bills, accumulating a combined Sh26.1 billion as of June 2023.
NMS holds Sh14.5 billion in pending bills, while NYS owes Sh11.6 billion, both figures as of the end of June last year.
The State Department for Crop Development follows closely with Sh16 billion in outstanding bills, exceeding both NMS and NYS.
Other ministries and agencies with significant arrears include the Ministry of Defence with Sh9.7 billion and the State Department for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development with Sh8.6 billion in unpaid bills.
The National Treasury expressed concern regarding the low compliance of State Departments, Ministries, and Agencies (MDAs) with directives to prioritize payments and consider pending bills as the first charge of their budgets.
“Despite numerous circulars and directives by the National Treasury requiring ministries, departments, and agencies, State corporations to prioritise payment of pending bills and the requirement that pending bills should form the first charge of the budget, the level of compliance has been very low,” the National Treasury stated
While NMS and NYS top the list for MDAs, state corporations and semi-autonomous government agencies hold a larger portion of the outstanding bills. These entities accumulated a staggering Sh443.8 billion by June 2023, bringing the total national government pending bills to a significant Sh567.7 billion at the end of that period.
Project contractors are owed the largest chunk of the arrears by state corporations and semi-autonomous government agencies, totaling Sh159 billion. Land compensation for projects also represents a substantial portion of outstanding bills, amounting to Sh42.5 billion. Additionally, these entities owe Sh43.1 billion to other contracted services.
