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The urgency to confront corruption and address the escalating pending bills cannot be gainsaid.

This must start by ensuring all genuine public sector pending bills take precedence in the government budget, as a timely intervention for the government to rectify this issue equitably and justly, so as to give enterprise an impetus for growth.

Just for the record, with media houses owed close to Sh1.7 billion in pending bills, the financial strain on media organisations is exacerbated by changing business models post-Covid-19, making the need for prompt payments a matter of life and death. And this is the case for various other sectors owed by the State.

The National Treasury estimated that there was a surge of Sh63 billion in outstanding national government bills within just three months, reaching Sh630.6 billion by the end of September. These are issues that threaten to drive enterprises to ruin, emphasising the need for the government to shift its role from a potential catalyst for economic downturn, to a facilitator of enterprise performance. Therefore, for the government, which is now one of the major source of business in the country, there should not be any argument about prioritising timely payments for enterprises because it is one of the surest ways to stimulate economic growth.

A recent World Bank’s report rightfully points out that governance challenges, especially in rule-based governance and corruption control, are significant impediments to the country’s progress.

The repercussions of these challenges are evident in the quality of our budgetary and financial management, which according to the lender saw the country score 3.0 for the Quality of Budgetary and Financial Management, lagging behind the regional average of 3.2 for East and Southern African countries.

But with revelations by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o that National Treasury over-budgeted her salary by three times, and by extension salaries of other State officers, clearly this is a confirmation of the continued trend of schemes to steal from public coffers. Terming it budgeted corruption, the Controller of Budget, appearing before the National Dialogue Committee detailed how Treasury has been over-budgeting salaries through the Consolidated Fund Services, yet the State is not able to sort pending bills in totality.

Delayed payments by State corporations not only contribute to the spike in non-performing loans but also inflict collateral damage on the broader economy.

Coupled with deeply entrenched corruption, which remains a substantial hindrance to economic growth, eroding public trust and impeding progress, the dream of Kenya becoming the ‘Singapore of Africa,’ is still farfetched. As the country focuses on drivers of economic growth, the State must seek ways to effectively deal with corruption, and maybe, if the leaders can draw some valuable lessons from Singapore’s commitment to combating corruption and maintaining transparent governance, Kenya can go a long way towards fostering a zero-tolerance approach to graft.

Beyond robust legal frameworks, enforcing stringent penalties for offenders without fear of favour is crucial, necessitating an independent Judiciary and an efficient legal system for swift and impartial justice.

Indeed, the Auditor General’s condemnation of State corporations’ spending habits, marked by wasteful expenditures and unaccounted funds, strengthens the argument for further reforms.

A comprehensive strategy, as indicated by the Treasury, should be developed and implemented over the medium term, so as to break this negative cycle, by ensuring the government must utilise inflows received to promptly clear pending bills. This must go together with concerted efforts to combat cartels and corruption squads in government, enhance transparency, and improve oversight.

— The writer is the Business Editor, People Daily