Nairobi, June 12 ; The National Treasury has allocated Sh229 billion in the 2025/2026 budget for the settlement of pending bills that have been verified by the government.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, while reading the budget statement at Parliament, said that the allocation is part of efforts to address long-standing payment delays dating back to 2005.
He said the verification committee, appointed in September 2023, is finalising its report and will submit it by the end of this month.
“The committee received a total of 65,625 claims valued at over Sh571.6 billion. It has so far analysed 57 per cent of them, worth Sh522 billion,” said Mbadi.
Out of the claims verified, the committee has recommended that Sh229 billion be paid.
“Once the committee submits its report, we shall submit the recommendations to Cabinet for approval to settle the pending bills,” he said.
Mbadi said the move is part of wider reforms aimed at improving public financial management and restoring trust in government systems.
The latest Budget Implementation Review Report of the 2024/25 financial year by the Controller of Budget shows the national government’s pending bills have risen by Sh24.9 billion year-on-year to March 2025.
Margaret Nyakang’o’s report puts the total pending bills by the national government at Sh511.75 billion as of March 31, 2025, up from Sh486.81 billion recorded at the same time last year. This marks a 5.1 per cent jump year-on-year.
The bills in the period under review comprised Sh421.63 billion (82 per cent) for state corporations and Sh90.12 billion (18 per cent) for ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
“State Corporations’ pending bills have increased by Sh16.35 billion compared to the Sh405.28 billion recorded in the same period of FY 2023/24,” the report reads.
