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{
    "id": 1420511,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1420511/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 564,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Thangw’a",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Our people, the citizens that we represent, contractors who woke up very early to vote for us have been working for the counties, but their counties are not paying their money. The only remedy is for them to go to court. When they go to court, they give the governors another opportunity to embezzle funds through the lawyers. Madam Temporary Speaker, as a House, we need to ask ourselves, do we stop everything and just discuss these pending bills? However, before we stop everything, we again need to ask ourselves how these county governments accumulate these amounts of pending bills. One, it is through over projecting their own source revenue thinking that they will collect more, but they collect less, yet they had committed that amount into contracts. Kiambu has been mentioned in this Motion as one of the counties with huge amounts of pending bills amounting to Kshs5.7 billion. The Kshs5.7 billion is an accumulation of pending bills from the three governors who have been there, including the current. As I speak now, I am not a prophet of doom, but I know that by the end of this financial year, June, 2024, Kiambu County will have more that Kshs10 billion as pending bills. Why? It is because the county over-projected that they were going to collect about Kshs8 billion, and yet, they have collected less than Kshs2 billion, so far. Another reason we have pending bills is county governments not following their budget lines, votes or what the Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) have already passed in the budget making process. They do requisitions to the CoB and she releases the monies. However, once the money hits the county account, it is diverted. You then ask yourself, why would a county have a huge pending bill, yet they have not even paid their employees? An example is my county. The casuals and subordinate employees who work at the hospitals have not been paid for the last six months. Sometimes you ask yourself, do we include this kind of salary delays as part of pending bills? Remember, when the issue of accumulation of pending bills was done, I do not know whether it was by choice or omission, that they omitted the monies that counties owe to the pension schemes. These county governments deduct monies from the employees, but never remit these amounts to the pension schemes. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}