Nairobi — A total of 1,537 companies have submitted unpaid pending bill requests to the state worth Sh145.5 billion as of January 30, 2024.

The Pending Bills Verification Committee said today the claims were distributed to 38 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

Out of the 1,537 claims, 309 are for goods, 995 are for services, 1,197 are for work, and 2 are employee- or labour-related requests.

This comes at a time when the state is finding it hard to clear arrears owed to private and government businesses amid a cash shortfall.

"In this respect, once the pending bills are verified and confirmed, the public shall be informed of the quantum of the eligible pending bills and the policy recommendations to government in clearing of the bills," the committee said.

For clarification of outstanding pending bills, the committee said that it will engage the respective accounting officers for proper analysis.

"We give assurance to the public that the committee will be objective, just and fair in undertaking its mandate and will be guided by the principles of transparency and accountability," it added.

As of September 30, 2023, government unpaid bills stood at Sh630.6 billion.

The arrears comprised Sh509.4 billion (73.4 percent) and Sh121.2 billion (26.1 percent) for the state corporations (SCs) and ministries, state departments, and other government agencies.

State Corporations pending bills included payments to contractors, projects, suppliers, unremitted statutory and other deductions, pension arrears for the Local Authorities Pension Trust, and others.

The pending bills verification team added that it will release its first interim report in March 2024, after completing the process of verification.