The Sh15 billion National Youth Service (NYS) pending bills will be paid in two months time. The move follows the conclusion of the verification exercise.

However, vouchers worth over Sh1b have been declared fake after over one year of verification by government agencies.

This emerged as the paramilitary training institution re-opened doors to recruits following its closure over Covid-19.

According to Public Service and Gender Cabinet Secretary  Prof. Margaret Kobia, the pending bills date between the year 2013 to 2017 when scandals rocked the institution.

Kobia said that when the scandals emerged, the government stopped any payment pending the verification of all the vouchers.

She was non-committal on when the pending bills would be paid but assured all those who delivered that they would get what their rightfull pay.

“We have worked with the anti-corruption team and we have verified that vouchers worth Sh15 billion are valid and we shall start paying,” she said.

Speaking at Gilgil NYS Training College where over 7,000 recruits have reported for paramilitary training, the CS said that all set health guidelines had been addressed.

“All the recruits have been tested for Covid-19 and we did not have any positive case and all the other NYS institutions have also reopened,” she said.

On her part, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry Mary Kimonye challenged those who had presented fake vouchers in pending bills claims to collect them before the law catches up with them.

Kimonye admitted that the pandemic had financially affected the institution following a drop in revenue but was optimistic that this would change in the coming days.

NYS Director-General Matilda Sakwa called for urgent disbursement of funds to run the institution as currently they were under-funded.