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{
    "id": 693921,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/693921/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 52,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "public finance management system at the county assembly has two components; the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) component and the Internet Banking (IB) component. The IFMIS component is the National Treasury software that is interfaced with the internet banking module, connected through a virtual private network which is managed by the Central Bank of Kenya. If we extract reports from the IFMIS system, based on the budget and the financial management system at any point in time, the IFMIS will contain all the commitments which have been made in that county government for payment. However, have all those commitments been paid? For you to get the answer you need to go to the internet banking platform, which also generates a report. The internet banking platform will show exactly how much money was debited at the account of a county government at the Central Bank of Kenya; that will give you a report. This issue has been explained by the county treasury to the Controller of Budget. In the course of these proceedings, as has been clarified to us, the Controller of Budget will come to testify on this issue because it is a systems issue. The bottom line is that at any point in time, given those commitments and the actual payments, the county revenue fund does not always have money because of late releases. Sometimes the releases are deducted by the Treasury at source. Therefore, you will find that the obligations of a county government are not met, yet they have been committed in the system. At any point in time there will always be a variance in the system. Do we impeach a governor based on a systems issue? Has the county assembly even summoned the Controller of Budget to ask for an explanation for this variance before undertaking this precipitate action of impeachment? Have they summoned the Director of IFMIS or Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya to explain how it works, so that this charge does not arise? Our submission is that this impeachment is extremely premature. Until we get the report of the Auditor-General, the Controller of Budget and the full picture in terms of the comments by the Director of IFMIS, the county assembly cannot lie in the mouth of the county assembly to say that this is an allegation that warrants impeachment, because there is no nexus with the governor. The County of Nyeri operates a financial system. It was the first county to integrate its finance management system and it is at a very advanced level. We urge the Senate to look at the issue and dismiss the charges. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will proceed on page 10 of the response, on the governor’s bundle. There is a charge of ‘irregular procurement contrary to Public Procurement and Disposal Act.’ It is important to emphasize that they have said ‘irregular procurement’. The charge is that the county government awarded tenders orally to people and the county governor formed a task force to regularize these tenders. As the person looking at this charge at the beginning, would you want to know the particulars of these tenders that were allegedly awarded irregularly? The county assembly has full powers to know about these tenders, but they never bothered to put the specific tender details here. What are the tenders that the county government awarded irregularly? What is the tender number? Where is the contract that was executed illegally out of the faulty tender process? On this charge there is no nexus at all. The charge is bare in terms of facts and evidence. Nonetheless, we have explained that there were queries that were raised by alleged contractors, which are contained in Volume III of the county assembly bundle, from page 81 to The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}