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{
"id": 1393181,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393181/?format=api",
"text_counter": 350,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": "A Public Accounts Committee, Public Investment Committee or an oversight Committee is like a mortician. You examine what has already happened. I must commend the current Office of the Auditor-General. Their examination when auditing accounts is not just about financial audits. It is also about systems audit and human resource audits. That is why the issue of the Managing Director of EPRA came in for discussion. We want all Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to focus their mind not only on financial reporting, but also on the entire system and enterprise risk planning. How do we start our work up to the end? That is because money is either lost or saved because the system is designed to do so. If we audit the system and find it is fool-proof, we will then be in a position to ensure that no public funds are lost. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the second important issue we need to look into is a recurrent problem. I can see it has been picked up in this Report as well. Specifically, in the observations in paragraph 12, there is late submission of supporting documentation. The country and all accountants must know that audit is a process. It is not an event. It is planned. If you look at the Audit Act and the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, the process is very clear. This habit of accounting officers being unable to produce documents when the audit is taking place and then they rush with them when they are summoned by Public Investments Committee (PIC) or Public Accounts (PAC) must come to a complete stop. This is flouting rules and regulations. It gives the impression that the accounting officer has gone to cook data to support a wrong or an illegal entry. This is something we have debated all over. The wilful failure to provide documents should be punished as per the PFM Act."
},
{
"id": 1393182,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393182/?format=api",
"text_counter": 351,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The fact that some public entities have no title deeds for pieces of land they occupy is a historical issue. In the formulation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, we believed and thought that the National Land Commission (NLC) will move with speed to regularise this process. However, from the word go, the NLC and Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development have been in a perpetual war. They fight imaginary wars over turf and mandate issues to a point that NLC mandate has since been clawed back. That is why we need to urge the NLC and MDAs to move with speed and regularise their land title deed issues."
},
{
"id": 1393183,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393183/?format=api",
"text_counter": 352,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": "There is one key recommendation that the Committee should have made. They should have given the MDAs that do not have land title deeds a specific time frame within which they need to regularise their parcels of land. I hope the Chair of the Committee is listening. In paragraph 13 of the Report, you should have made it clear that they should regularise the ownership of their title deeds within six or 12 months. How do you do that? You must acquire the documents required under Section 7 of the Land Registration Act. That can be done because The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
},
{
"id": 1393184,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393184/?format=api",
"text_counter": 353,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": "the cadastral maps are there. Some of them already have Part Development Plan (PDP). Some are already included in the national development spatial plan. It is, therefore, a matter that can take a short period of time. There are ping-pong games. For example, we were told that the allotment letters got lost. Who told them that those are legal documents to confirm ownership of the title deed? They are not. The document to confirm ownership of the title deed is the title deed. Those are some of the issues that we need to address. Hon. Temporary speaker, those entities must be going concerns, as the law indicates from an accounting officer’s perspective. The Government did not set up those corporations to drain the Exchequer. They were supposed to be a profit centre but not a cost centre. We continuously say that those agencies are capable of running and getting their money to even contribute to the Exchequer through other means. What normally kills those organisations is poor governance and mismanagement. One of the issues that the Committee should focus on is the governance structures. Are they good enough to ensure that those Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) are capable of running themselves sustainably? Therefore, I ask the Committee – as the oversight committee – to put the SAGAs in line to account for what they do. If they are found to be incapable or insolvent, the Committee should be bold enough to recommend for their dissolution so that they do other things. On the African Portland Cement, it was supposed to be a price stabiliser in the economy. However, during periods under review, they were in trouble. I sit it in the Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Co-operatives. They have made tremendous progress in making sure that they capitalise their business and make it grow. The Government and all those concerned should give them support to ensure that we have a price stabiliser in this economy. I have been told that, currently, cement costs Ksh900 per 50 kilogramme-bag. A few years back, it was being sold at Ksh450. You can tell that the exponential increase in price is going to jeopardise the so-called affordable housing program. It is no longer going to be affordable. So, we must ask..."
},
{
"id": 1393185,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393185/?format=api",
"text_counter": 354,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Peter Kaluma",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 1565,
"legal_name": "George Peter Opondo Kaluma",
"slug": "george-peter-opondo-kaluma"
},
"content": " Are you requesting for more time? You can have your two minutes."
},
{
"id": 1393186,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393186/?format=api",
"text_counter": 355,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Temporary Speaker, as the Chairman of the Committee has indicated, I know that the Government is not in the habit of doing business. That is an agreed fact all over the world. However, the Government has a moral obligation to stabilize its economy. All over the world, you will find that governments have strategic corporations in critical strategic areas. It is, therefore, important that we have a fall- back plan even as we rush towards privatization. If things go wrong, we can always go to the strategic reserve to ensure that we sustain ourselves. So that I am not seen to be abusing the generosity that the presiding Speaker has conferred to me, I conclude by emphasising on the need to make sure that we run public organisations efficiently, fairly and without discrimination. Before this Report, there was a Report about people living with disabilities being discriminated against at their places of work. This kind of organisation should support this through education, training and the rest of the things. With those few remarks, I support."
},
{
"id": 1393187,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393187/?format=api",
"text_counter": 356,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Peter Kaluma",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 1565,
"legal_name": "George Peter Opondo Kaluma",
"slug": "george-peter-opondo-kaluma"
},
"content": " Hon. Gideon Mulungi."
},
{
"id": 1393188,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393188/?format=api",
"text_counter": 357,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mwingi Central, WDM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Gideon Mulyungi",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I will speak for less than three minutes because of time. I rise to support the Report of the Public Investments Committee Report on Commercial Affairs."
},
{
"id": 1393189,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393189/?format=api",
"text_counter": 358,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Peter Kaluma",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 1565,
"legal_name": "George Peter Opondo Kaluma",
"slug": "george-peter-opondo-kaluma"
},
"content": " Hon. Gideon Mulungi, Parliament will adjourn at 9.00 O'clock today. You have all the time – ten minutes to be precise. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
},
{
"id": 1393190,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393190/?format=api",
"text_counter": 359,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mwingi Central, WDM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Gideon Mulyungi",
"speaker": null,
"content": " So, I have all the time. Thank you, for your generosity. I will start by congratulating the Committee for a job well done. The Chair of this Committee was my Chair in the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure during the last Parliament. He is a very competent person. Having served as CEO in a parastatal before, he is equal to the task that has been bestowed upon him at the moment. The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and the Public Finance Management Act provide that accounting officers are accountable to the people of Kenya, through Parliament. We cannot, therefore, condone misuse of public funds and corruption. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the highlights of the Report on five key parastatals, especially the East African Portland Cement (EAPC), are very important. The EAPC is the only institution that I am going to deal with. I am okay with the recommendations of the rest. The EAPC produces cement, which is a key component in the construction industry. Without cement, there would be no buildings in the world. Cement is used in huge quantities in construction. If the prices of cement are not controlled, buildings will become very expensive. In the last two to three years, we have seen the cost of cement double — it has risen from Ksh450 per 50 kilogramme-bag to now Ksh900. The increase impacts the cost of buildings and roads. This beats the purpose of affordable housing, which is a policy of…"
}
]
}