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The Nairobian

Embu Governor Mbarire says she inherited Sh2.2 billion pending bills

National

By Edwin Nyarangi | Feb 11, 2025

**Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire.** [Muriithi Mugo, Standard]

Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire has told the Senate that her administration inherited Sh2.2 billion pending bills from the previous regime which she has prioritized to ensure that they are cleared.

Mbarire who appeared before the Senate Devolution Committee at Parliament buildings for deliberation on low expenditure on development in Embu County for the financial year 2022/2023 said that after taking over she set up a pending bills task force to establish the veracity of those bills.

The Governor told the committee chaired by Wajir Senator Sheikh Abbass that the task force established there was a pending bill of Sh1.7 billion while Sh588 million were due to unremitted staff deductions promising to ensure that they are all cleared with sufficient measures put in place to achieve that.

“When I came to office in August 2022, I inherited pending bills worth Sh2.2 billion, I formed a taskforce to establish the veracity of the claims after which it made a report, my administration is doing everything possible to ensure that they are all cleared,” said Mbarire.

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The Governor told the committee that during transition to devolved governance, Embu County inherited a substantial workforce including senior management staff, as it was headquarters of the former Eastern Province but unfortunately, the National Government did not redistribute staff equitably.

Mbarire said neighboring counties retained staff in lower job groups, while Embu inherited a disproportionate number of senior management personnel, leading to higher payroll costs with many of the inherited employees possessing skills misaligned with established schemes of service, necessitating the recruitment of additional skilled personnel to bridge gaps, further straining the personnel budget.

She pointed out that out of the total budget allocated to Embu County, the Department of Health accounts for Sh 1.6 billion in personnel emoluments, which constitutes about 45% of the entire wage bill with Embu Level 5 Hospital, previously a Provincial Hospital serving the entire Eastern Region, continues to operate with staff devolved from the National Government.

“Many of the employees working at the Embu Level 5 Hospital, previously a Provincial Hospital earn significantly high salaries, particularly consultants, some of whom earn up to Sh 50,000 per month which has contributed to the huge personnel emoluments,” said Mbarire.

The Governor said that a moratorium on non-critical recruitment has been imposed with hiring limited to essential sectors like health and education to sustain critical service delivery with recruitment done primarily for replacement of critical essential staff.

Embu Senator Alexander Mundigi appealed to the committee to help push for a conditional grant of Sh250 million to be given to the county so as to be able to build the Governor’s office which was burnt down during the Gen Z protests last year.

“As we are speaking the Embu Governor does not have an office, I am appealing to the Senate to push for conditional grant of Sh 250 million to be given to the county so that another office can be constructed after the previous was burnt down,” said Mundigi.