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Busia Governor Paul Otuoma and Senator Okiya Omtatah are at loggerheads after the latter demanded to be furnished with information on county finances and incidental costs.

At the centre of the face-off is huge pending bills Busia owes and whose status Omtatah wants to be informed as part of his senatorial mandate of overseeing funds allocated to the devolved unit.

In his first formal letter to Otuoma since he assumed office, Omtatah wants to be furnished with information and supporting documents for various projects being undertaken in the county within 21 days as provided for in section 9 of the access to Information Act, No. 31 of 2016.

Omtatah has singled out pending bills, unsettled financial obligations that occur as a result of the county’s failure to pay for goods and services that have been properly procured. He questions the management on pending bills, county enacted funds, bank balances, own revenues and Exchequer requisitions, imprests and revised budget.

In the letter, Omtatah claims the Otuoma-led county had accrued over Sh1.7 billion as pending bills as of June 30, 2022 as per the county’s annual financial statements for FY 2021/22. “In any case the county has paid any pending bill since you assumed office, please, disclose the amounts, particulars of the services and or goods procured, identities of beneficiaries, and rationale for prioritising these over those that remain unpaid,” he added.

Following complaints at his office that the county had employed casuals in the Health department for one year and laid them off before paying them, Omtatah also demanded a disclosure of the number of permanent employees, contractual staff, and casual workers.