Senators grill Irungu over Sh1.3 billion pending bills in Laikipia

Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu has been taken to task by Senators for failing to pay debts owed to contractors and suppliers who did business with the county under his predecessor, Ndiritu Muriithi.

Irungu, who appeared before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang, was also put on the spot for having Sh1.15 billion worth of pending bills without supporting documentation.

Senators accused him of giving priority to pending bills accumulated by his administration while neglecting those he inherited from the previous regime, yet he had an obligation to clear them since most of the contractors had rendered services but were now suffering.

According to the Auditor-General’s report for the financial year ended June 30, 2025, pending bills worth more than Sh1.3 billion out of a total of Sh1.64 billion have been outstanding for more than three years, without explanation for the non-payment.

“Consequently, the Laikipia County Government was in breach of Regulation 41(2) of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2015, which states that pending bills be paid as a first charge,” stated the report.

According to the report, the county government paid pending bills worth Sh564 million during the period under review and another Sh251.5 million in the current fiscal year, while in the financial year ended June 2024, Sh456.2 million was paid and Sh576.2 million in the previous fiscal year.

However, only Sh96.3 million of the old pending bills had been paid by the administration as at December 31, 2025, with Senators questioning the Governor on why he was breaching the law by prioritising the payment of new pending bills instead of clearing the old ones first.

Laikipia Senator John Kinyua said the tendency they were seeing was that the Governor could choose to pay his friends, while those not loyal to him ended up not being paid, which is not only a breach of the law but also unfair to county residents who had offered services to their county.

“We have been given many explanations on why the county government cannot pay the old pending bills first, but the Governor should know that he has an obligation to clear them before engaging in new ones,” said Kinyua.

Governor Irungu admitted to the anomaly, committing to follow the law by prioritising the old pending bills, and said the administration would come up with an ageing analysis policy on pending bills to ensure that they are gradually cleared.

Taita Taveta Senator Johnes Mwaruma asked the Governor to tell the committee when his administration plans to clear the old debts, seeking to know whether he had budgeted for the old pending bills and when he planned to pay them.

The Governor told the Senate committee that he would include the old pending bills in the payment plans starting this financial year, stating that it was not the intention of his administration to deny those who had delivered services to the county their dues.

The county government also came under scrutiny for recording pending bills worth Sh1.15 billion in its register without supporting documents such as contract agreements, requisitions, delivery notes, and local purchase and service orders, among others.

Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni termed it a complex issue, noting that some people may have supplied nothing but were still pushing to be paid, with the Governor saying that the county was currently conducting a validation exercise of the pending bills.

“The reason why we have included the pending bills is to have visibility of all trade payable claims. Already, we have some pending bills worth Sh674.7 million that are supported with documents, with those worth Sh967 million remaining,” said Irungu.

The county government was also put on the spot over a ballooning wage bill, having spent Sh3.28 billion, or 55 per cent of its total revenue of Sh5.97 billion, on compensation of employees, contrary to the law, which sets the threshold at 35 per cent.

“My administration inherited an inflated wage bill from the former local authorities and the national government through devolved departments such as trade, infrastructure, agriculture and health,” said Irungu.

The Governor was also questioned over payments made to eight private law firms amounting to Sh24.9 million for the provision of legal services after directly procuring them without written approval from the accounting officer and documented proof of urgency, contrary to Section 91 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, which establishes open tendering as the preferred method of procurement.

In addition, evidence supporting the determination of the charges, documents on professional opinions to guide the award of the legal services tenders, evidence to show that respective departments requisitioned the services, and approval by the relevant County Executive Committee members were not provided for audit. Notably, the county has a legal officer and a legal adviser.

The Governor defended the procurement of external legal services, saying that the law permits the circumstances under which the outsourcing of the legal services was done.