230 000 000 debt

The Committee of Experts has run into a Sh230 million debt as Treasury said it has no money to bail them out.

On Monday, the CoE revealed it contracted printers and suppliers of civic education material on the strength of the Sh330 million it had requested from the ministry of Finance.

And because Treasury only released Sh100 million, the team risks plunging into a Sh230 million debt row with the contracted companies.

A document shows money is owed to printers, media houses and transporters, among other suppliers.

The revelation was made by an accountant at the committee, Mr Cleon Obwar, with authorisation from director Ekuru Aukot.

The committee called a press conference to explain its position following statements by Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua that the Treasury would not release any more funds for civic education and any other allocation would be in the next budget.

Dr Aukot said they had requested an additional Sh200 million to print copies of the proposed constitution in Kiswahili, simplified and braille versions for the ongoing civic education. Other civic education materials were also included.

“We applied Sh200 million for the printing of the Kiswahili, popular and Braille versions of the draft. We need this money,” he said.

Treasury has said that the CoE was allocated Sh330 million and had received Sh130 million for civic education. The balance of Sh200 million would be used for printing.

“After further discussions, it was decided that even though our development partners were providing suppor, additional funding was expected from GOK (Government of Kenya) amounting to Sh330 million,” Mr Kinyua said.

The CoE confirmed it received the Sh100 million but has indicated that this was insufficient for the purpose.