Kisumu Contractors urges county Assembly to pass supplementary Budget.

 A section of Contractors who are doing businesses with the County Government of Kisumu address the press today while urging the County Assembly to immediately pass the Supplementary Budget to allow them be paid their debts-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo.

By Dickson Odhiambo

   

 November 29, 2018.

Kisumu Contractors urges county Assembly to pass supplementary Budget.

ABOUT 180 contractors who have been doing various businesses with the county Government of Kisumu have urged the County Assembly to immediately pass a supplementary Budget that is now before it by next week on Tuesday.

The contractors led by their chairman Bernard Onoka say it is only the County Assembly to do its work of passing the Supplementary Budget so as to enable them be paid by the County Government of Kisumu.

They claim that the county Government of Kisumu owe them about 1.2billion as pending bills, adding they need to be paid the money to enable them do their businesses.

They say currently they should be paid about about 700million which is in the supplementary Budget, adding that the rest will be paid in due course.

“Some of us have not be paid since the financial year 2013/2014, 2014-2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 and we need this money to help us carry on with our businesses,” they say.

Addressing the press after meeting the Chairman of Kisumu County Assembly Budget Committee Chair Stephen Owiti today, the contractors urged the County Assembly not to frustrate the process of passing the Supplementary Budget.

They say the Executive wing of the County Government of Kisumu has done its work of coming up with the Supplementary Budget hence the ball now lies with County Assembly of Kisumu.

They say the team has met the Kisumu County Governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o over the matter and it has been a fruitful meeting.

The Budget Committee Chair at the Kisumu County Assembly Stephen Owiti say it is true the contractors have complained about the nonpayment because most of the contracts done in the last financial year were not completed in time and have ended up as pending bills.

He says there is supplementary budget that is taking care of the payments, adding that the Assembly has explained to the contractors that the passage of the Supplementary Budget is a process.

“We have been looking at the Supplementary Budget which we received from the Assembly and the Executive and as a Budget Committee we have been sitting for the last two weeks discussing it,” he says.

He says they have agreed with the Speaker of the County Assembly Onyango Oloo that there will be discussions on the Supplementary Budget next week.

“Next week on Tuesday we will have the house business committee and the discussions will kick off on Wednesday and this is the tentative program,” Owiti adds.

The Budget Committee Chair admits that the Assembly is behind schedule since the Budget would have been discussed today at the Assembly but is it due to some hitches which have now been sorted.

He denies the allegation that the Assembly is derailing the process of passing the Supplementary Budget.

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