A Parliamentary Committee has raised the alarm over revelations that the State Department on Lands and Physical Planning has historical pending bills amounting to Sh18.236 billion.
The National Assembly’s Committee on Lands made the discovery during a meeting with the principal secretary for the State Department on Lands and Physical Planning Nixon Korir regarding budget implementation and monitoring for the 2022/23 financial year.
The committee chaired by North Mugirango MP Joash Nyamoko had summoned Korir to shed light on the financial performance by vote and programme from the lands department.
MPs had also sought audience with the department on receipts, exchequer issues, recurrent expenditure, pending bills and actual output achieved relative to set targets.
And according to documents scrutinized by the members of the Committee, the state department has pending bills amounting to Sh625 million. These include verified pending bills of Sh447 million and unverified bills amounting to Sh178 million with audits ongoing.
“However, it is worth noting that there are historical legal pending bills amounting to Sh18.236 billion,” PS Korir informed the committee.
Committee members raised alarm questioning the cause of such a significant debt.
“What is the role of the Attorney-General as the chief legal advisor of the government if the Land ministry has lost these many cases resulting in 18.236 billion in judgement settlements?” asked Nyamoko.
MPs also learnt that the department has unpaid court awards with accrued interest dating back to 2006.
Members of the committee questioned the competence of the Attorney-General in representing the ministry in land adjudication matters.
This is after reviewing documents that revealed that the ministry has for the past 17 years accumulated 26 unpaid court awards which have accrued massive interest over time.
The committee instead directed the PS to provide comprehensive documentation in the land adjudication procedures and all court cases. The Committee has resolved to investigate the matter further.
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