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{
    "id": 1234367,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1234367/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 137,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mandago",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13577,
        "legal_name": "Kiplagat Jackson Mandago",
        "slug": "kiplagat-jackson-mandago"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity to weigh in on this matter of pending bills. There is something that the House, the National Treasury, county governments and the general public need to understand. Unless we have another definition of a pending bill, ‘a pending bill’ is a bill of either a service or a project that has been delivered to completion but has not been paid and it was budgeted. What we are experiencing in counties are not really pending bills. These are ongoing contracts that have been rolled over from different financial years. They were ongoing. Their money is budgeted. The money is there but counties are failing to pay. So, there must be clarity on the matter of pending bills. These are not pending bills. This is impunity by officers who have been given the responsibility of examining and paying for services and goods received. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the matter that we are supposed to be addressing is the question of non-payment of ongoing contracts or those that have been completed in the course of time and the money is there in the budget. There is confusion sometimes between pending bills and ongoing works. The figures that are given are not for pending bills because their money is there. What we need to address, as a House, is how we will make sure that any contractor, not just in the county governments but also the national Government entities and semi-autonomous government agencies is paid on time."
}