NAIROBI, Kenya, July 8 – The Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) has appealed to Parliament to help it recover more than Sh251.5 million in overdue debts owed by government institutions, saying existing regulations bar state agencies from taking legal action against one another.
Appearing before the National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education, KLB Managing Director George Okeyo said the publisher has exhausted administrative avenues to recover the money without success.
He said the restrictions have hampered debt recovery efforts and strained the bureau’s operations.
“If we are allowed by the government to take drastic action against fellow government institutions, we would do so,” Okeyo told the committee.
According to the Auditor-General’s review, KLB has trade receivables amounting to Sh1.05 billion, of which Sh251.5 million has remained outstanding for more than 90 days.
Assistant Finance Manager Kenneth Adongo also disclosed that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) owes the bureau a further Sh1.3 billion.
Okeyo attributed part of the bureau’s financial difficulties to frequent curriculum changes, saying they leave booksellers with unsold textbooks, disrupting cash flows across the supply chain and delaying payments to KLB.
He told lawmakers the bureau has since strengthened its debt recovery framework by establishing a dedicated credit control function to monitor textbook sales and collections more closely.
Committee Chairperson Dick Maungu criticised the bureau’s consideration of writing off some of the debts, urging management to intensify recovery efforts instead.
He said recovering the outstanding funds is critical to enabling the bureau to meet key obligations, including paying suppliers and staff salaries.
The committee has directed its secretariat to summon the Council of Governors and the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary to explain the persistent delays in payments by public institutions to state corporations.
