President Uhuru Kenyatta's niece Nana Gecaga is in the spotlight over millions in debt that a parastatal she heads owes suppliers.
According to a report by Daily Nation on Wednesday, April 8, the parastatal, Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC), reportedly owes some 69 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) accrued payments to the tune of Ksh211 million.
The companies which supplied goods and services to the KICC are urgently demanding their dues arguing that without prompt payment, they will be greatly impacted by the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some of the debt was acquired from as far back as 2015 for companies that supplied goods and services during the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) 10th Ministerial Conference.
The publication further noted that the management of the parastatal did not know the amount of money that had already been paid out to suppliers.
In her response, Gecaga admitted that the parastatal could not settle the debt as it was also facing cash crunch over limited allocation from the state.
“If the government does not give us money... The government owes KICC a lot of money,” she justified the parastatal's failure to settle the debt.
The Office of the Auditor-General had warned that KICC risked losing a section of its property either to creditors or sold for the benefit of the creditors.
“Most claimants have contracts, LPOs, LSOs and award letters,” reads a section of the audit.
This comes at a time when President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued a directive requiring government accounting officers and devolved units to clear pending bills.
“Pending bills rob of public resources. They have killed SMEs and private companies. We have to run the government effectively. Settling pending bills should be a success story of this government,” stated Treasury CS Ukur Yatani.
After the Coronavirus pandemic hit the country, the CS announced that Treasury had suspended all its commitments to pay outstanding dues.
In an internal memo dated March 31, issued by the Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakango, the National Treasury was instructed to only process payments for government employees.
"This is to inform you that the National Treasury and Planning has put on hold all commitments, payments, and claims as the country assesses the resource requirements for Covid-19 interventions," reads the internal memo in part.
