Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi unveiled a strategy that will see county contractors paid within 14 days after the full delivery of their contracts.
In a statement on Monday, March 6, the County Government indicated that the new directive was part of the county's efforts to reduce the number of pending bills.
"This follows a new debt payment discipline that Wamatangi has put in place," the statement read in part.
The governor further indicated that the new policy has helped to repair the poor relationship between the county and its suppliers and contractors due to non-payment by previous regimes.
According to Wamatangi, his administration inherited Ksh7 billion in pending bills which left the county technically insolvent.
Furthermore, the first-time governor alleged that the pending bills included Ksh50 million owed to a hotel that senior county officials had turned into a meeting point.
"I have directed that no department should advertise for any tender, whether supplies or projects, unless they have the money to pay,” the governor indicated.
Wamatangi also maintained that he will not preside over an administration that will devastate people by causing them to be auctioned because they did business with the county government and it refused to pay.
"Since I took over the county, no supplier can lift his or her hand and say we owe them,” he added.
To settle the pending bills, Wamatangi argued that the County Government of Kiambu will be paying KSh2 billion annually going forward until it clears all the outstanding debt.
This comes days after a report by Auditor-Genreral Nancy Gathungu revealed that the county's financial operations for the financial year ended June 2021 had accrued Ksh2 billion in pending bills.
Furthermore, the financial statements revealed that the county had Ksh5.7 billion in pending bills as of June 30, 2021, including Ksh3.7 billion that had been carried forward from June 2020 and earlier fiscal years.
