Acting Treasury CS Ukur Yatani has said that President Uhuru Kenyatta directed Cabinet Secretaries and their Principal Secretaries to report to work this holiday season until the pending bills are cleared.
Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday, Yatani said that the head of state is concerned over the manner in which certain affairs are being handled.
He said that the President is concerned with the payment of goods and services procured by both the county and national governments from private groups.
Yatani noted that the pending bills have affected the performance of different dockets as well as the entire economy of the nation, adding that the President wants the matter addressed with immediate effect.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, in his last cabinet meeting this year, ordered all Cabinet Secretaries and their Principal Secretaries not to proceed on holiday until all pending bills are paid.
“It’s unfair that after a contractor finishes their work, you stay with money…we are getting reports that some of these people owed by the government are stressed to the extent where they take their own lives,” said the CS.
He said that the pending bills amount to Sh.58.2 billion. The National Treasury has established that Sh.43.2 billion of this amount accounts for historical pending bills. Yatani said that the government has embarked on an audit and investigations to determine whether the bills can be paid before it goes ahead with the process.