Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Wednesday, May 3, confirmed that the government would prioritise settling pending bills for the next three years before launching new road projects.
While appearing before the Senate, Murkomen noted that the government had accumulated bills worth Ksh150 billion and secured a Ksh600 billion commitment for road contracts ready to be done.
The Transport CS further revealed that his recent trip to China saw his team engage in constructive conversations about a debt resettling plan with officials from China Exim Bank.
"For the past week, I was in China and had conversations with the Chinese Exim Bank and Ministry of Commerce, Transport and Foreign Affairs.
"We discussed ways of partnering with them and see if they can help us shoulder this burden of pending bills because most of our contractors are Chinese and they have a portfolio of about Ksh400 billion of these roads that are pending," he explained
"It is important for this house to understand that we have a very serious challenge of pending bills. We have up to Ksh150 billion of work already done, certificates issued and ready to be paid. Another commitment of Ksh600 billion for roads is ready to be done. I will be a liar to state that we will do new roads. My Ministry is doing everything humanly possible to do away with pending bills," he added.
The CS affirmed that future road projects might be considered in the next financial year by using funds from county governments as seed money to undertake the projects.
"It is possible for us to do these roads if in the next financial year, take the equalisation fund given to your county (about Ksh200 million).
"We have a sit-down and state that we can construct the roads that are approximately worth Ksh500 million in three years. Commence with the Ksh200 million as seed money and continue since the contract is for a three-year period," he reiterated.
Murkomen also suggested that money reserved for the maintenance of roads could be used to pave the way for other more pressing roads.
Murkomen was among the six Cabinet Secretaries who appeared before the Senate on Wednesday, May 3. Others included Ezekiel Machogu (Education) Peninah Malonza (Tourism) and Zacharia Njeru (Lands).
The news comes as Murkomen faulted former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration for the accumulation of pending bills that resulted in stalled projects across the country.
“The implementation of Kenya Kwanza's infrastructure development agenda has been hampered by the huge pending bills that have accumulated over the last two years, resulting in stalled road projects across the country,” he stated during a meeting with Nakuru County leaders on March 9, 2023.
