NMS to clear pending bills worth Sh 1.3b

NMS Director-General Mohammed Badi, (left) and Deputy Governor Anne Kananu during the handover of Nairobi City county pending bills to NMS. [Samson Wire, Standard]

City Hall has handed over Sh1.3 billion pending bills files to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) for payment to suppliers and contractors.

This means that contractors and suppliers who did business with the Nairobi County Government in the 2018/19 financial year under the four dockets of Health, Transport, Public works and Planning will now receive their dues from NMS.

Anne Kananu, the Nairobi Deputy Governor yesterday presided over the handing over ceremony at Charter Hall. She revealed that a list of suppliers and contractors to be paid was arrived at after a request by the Office of the Auditor General to undertake a special audit in line with the Public Finance Management Act.

Consequently, she said, a joint committee of City Hall and NMS was formed to look into contracts and files of accumulated pending bills for 2018/2019 financial year.

“Accumulation of pending bills has raised concerns in the recent past and has put suppliers on the edge. I would like to urge, the NMS leadership to make payment of pending bills the first item of expenditure on their budgets for the 2019/2020 financial year,” Kananu said.

She asked City Hall’s finance team to adopt a phased approach to settling outstanding arrears.

NMS Director General Mohammed Badi said they initially experienced hiccups in service delivery due to the delay in settling pending bills which had led contractors to down their tools. “There will be a collaborative effort between City Hall, NMS and contractors to ensure service delivery,” Maj Gen Badi said

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