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{
    "id": 1420708,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1420708/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 158,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Pending bills have what we call an aging system. If you go through the auditor's report, there is a mention of aging system payment. You wonder why the pending bills that were incurred by county governments or government departments do not respect the aging system that is prescribed for payment of pending bills. Pending bills are also a first charge in our budgets. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there has been a historical excuse with counties, especially that some of the pending bills were incurred from the defunct local authorities. I have often referred to this as an excuse because those county governments took over those bills from the defunct local authorities, but we have not seen any effort in paying those bills. So, those bills remain just by design. The issue of own-source revenue also adds to the pending bills we have in counties because it is used by counties to balance their budgets. At the end of it, we remain with pending bills year in, year out. I have seen several people in my own county distressed, fall sick with some collapsing and others die. My uncle, Dicklan Opan, was buried unceremoniously because he was owed money by the County Government of Homa Bay and he expected payment because his financiers were also looking for payment. On that particular day when he was expecting that pay which did not come, he just dropped and died. That is the story of so many other people. Many contractors have had their properties being auctioned, are sick in beds or are terminally ill because they have not been paid and so not able to meet their financial obligations. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of pending bills results in the withholding of circulation of cash in the economy. Some times back when counties came into place, the counties were very vibrant when funds had been released. When people were paid, you could see money circulating in most of our urban and rural centres. Now, that is a thing of the past. I support this Motion because the pending bills also put pressure on the scarce resources that we have in our counties because they attract penalties that have to be paid. If they are paid by the counties, it means that there is pressure that is exerted on the resources that we already have. If you look at the last Auditor General's report, there is a mention of abandoned and incomplete projects all over the country. These were projects that some money had been put in. Unfortunately, counties were supposed to make our people vibrant in their businesses, but the non-payment of these bills has killed many small business people. We have also heard the example of Nyeri County by the Senator for Nyeri. Our governors and a number of government departments need to learn from Nyeri why a number of counties have pending bills and Nyeri does not. However, as we talk about counties, even the national Government departments as per the Auditor General's report, have huge pending bills led by the Ministry of Roads and Transport, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, and even the Ministry of Health. Incidentally, even Office of the President (OP) has a percentage of pending bills. Our government departments and county governments must meet their obligations so that our people can thrive and the economy of the counties can grow. 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."
}