Governor Mbarire decries huge pending bills as she assumes office
New Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire has decried huge pending bills left behind by her predecessor, Martin Wambora.
Speaking after being sworn into office at the Embu University grounds on Thursday, August 25, the county boss disclosed that her administration inherits Ksh2.2 billion in pending bills from the previous administration.
She lamented that the pending bills surpass the county's annual development budget.
''Embu County Government has a pending bill estimated to be exceeding Ksh2.2 billion. This presents the single biggest challenge moving on because the figure exceeds the amount budgeted and spent in our county for all development in a single year,'' Mbarire stated.
Mbarire affirmed that her administration will seek to ascertain the legality of the bill by conducting a forensic audit, before making any payments.
She committed to protecting county resources and eradicating corruption in the county by sealing leakages leading to the loss of public funds.
''We will digitalize revenue collection,'' Mbarire promised.
Mbarire to maximise revenue collection
Mbarire reiterated that her government will do radical surgery on Embu County Revenue Authority to [ECRA] to maximize revenue collection.
''For the last five years the county government of Embu has collected an approximate revenue of Ksh300 million per year, the potential of Embu is that we can collect between Ksh900 million to Ksh1 billion this means three-quarters of the revenue is going to wrong hands,'' the governor stated.
Lady Justice Mary Kasango and Embu Law Courts chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti presided over the swearing-in ceremony.
