NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 21- The punitive payment process for people doing business with the government might be a thing of the past if a Bill proposed by the Building Bridges Imitative (BBI) report is adopted by Parliament.
The prompt payment bill seeks to ensure Kenyans supplies both the National and County Governments are promptly paid.
The Bill if enacted to become a law will give any public entity at least 60 days to make full payment to suppliers.
It will also provide a dispute resolving mechanism over invoices for public supplies, promotion of business through efficiency, transparency and accountability in public accounting processes.
To address disputes, the Bill calls for establishment of a Public Invoices Settlement Tribunal, that will be tasked with hearing appeals on any decision stopping the payment of an invoice.
The five-member tribunal will be led by a chairperson “with the qualifications of a Judge of the High Court of Kenya, nominated by the Judicial Service Commission.”
“A decision of the Tribunal shall be enforced by an accounting officer of a public entity to whom it is directed,” reads the report.
Further, the BBI reports indicate, “tribunal may make such recommendations on appropriate reforms to the systems of a procuring entity as it may consider necessary.”
A party who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Tribunal will have 14 days of the decision to appeal at the High Court.
