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"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
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"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was listening to my brother, the Deputy Speaker and I liked what he was saying. The Order Paper belongs to my good The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
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"content": "friend, the Senate Majority Leader. Therefore, when we sit here and start lamenting, we are lamenting and pointing a finger at you. I would not say that you are failing, but other people could conclude that. This House must be respected. When we stood here and some of us argued, we interpreted Article 153 of the Constitution to say that a Cabinet Secretary can only appear before a Committee of the House. They are mandated to appear when invited to do so. However, the Judiciary saw it fit that they also appear before the Plenary. Now that they are here, it is also the reason we decided to be here. Our side of the House had decided not to attend because we did not want to violate the Constitution. The only thing we ought to do now is to look at the provisions of the laws that gives us powers to punish these individuals who fail to appear. Section 19 of our Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act is quite clear that there are consequences when a witness has been invited or summoned to appear, but fails to do so. I do not know why we are lamenting here. We should just do what we did in the last Parliament. The Majority Leader was seated here when we censured the Cabinet Secretary for Energy then and some consequences followed. You know some people think that we come here to keep talking, but we have a lot of power. Mr. Speaker, Sir, since you are seated there, you are like the Chair of the Committee. You should be the first one to say that we will now apply Section 19 of our Parliamentary Powers and Privilege Act of this country, so that these people can respect this House. The other day, we were given credit. They said we are doing better than the National Assembly because we are diligent and know the law, our rights and the powers. We are here as ombudspersons of citizens who have sent us to represent them. I would like to beseech you that we become decisive in our decision-making. We should send strong messages. When I saw the President saying that he will now ensure that the Cabinet Secretaries appear before the Floor of the House, what does it mean when they fail to appear? I do not want to use slang, but it is as if they are showing him the middle finger, uta do? Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is something that we need to be very serious about. The President and the Speaker have to be respected."
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"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Senators, let this debate lie there. I have indicated and advised that the recourse you have and that this Senate has, where a Cabinet Secretary fails to appear without any reasonable cause, then you may invoke Standing Order No.51(d). The reasons you are giving, the contributions you are making are so relevant and will give weight to such a motion. I wish to hear the kind of debate when you are debating that Motion. As we are talking now, at the end of the day, no resolution can be passed as far as the failure of these Cabinet Secretaries is concerned. Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, take leadership in this matter. As far as what Sen. Sifuna has alluded to, that then can this House sitting at plenary, impose a fine just like a committee? Yes, we can. However, it is the procedure because you need to The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
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"content": "pass a resolution. The Speaker cannot impose a fine, but only by this House through a resolution. How do we then proceed as a House?"
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Loud consultations)"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": "What Sen. Sifuna has alluded to is very valid. It is something that next Tuesday as we sit as SBC. We will put our heads together, so that we neaten out the procedure on how this House can resolve on imposing a fine to a Cabinet Secretary who has failed to attend. That will be my advice for today. Hon. Senators, let us now proceed to tackle the other business in our Order Paper as we wait for the Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage at noon. The mode of communication is an issue that has been put forward for determination by Hon. Senators. Just like in the Senate, the only officer who communicates with other institutions out there, is the Clerk. As far as Ministries are concerned, the only officer that we will accept their communication is either the Principal Secretary or the Cabinet Secretary themselves. Any other letter written by any officer than the Principal Secretary or the Cabinet Secretary will be deemed a no communication. Clerk, communicate to all Hon. Cabinet Secretaries, that if the Senate receives a letter that has no hand of the Principal Secretary or the Cabinet Secretary, it shall not be deemed to be a communication to the Senate. Hon. Senators, allow me to invoke Standing Order No.45 to rearrange the Order Paper. Instead of proceeding to discuss Order No.8, which is a Motion by the Hon. Senator for Mombasa, we will proceed to prosecute Order No.9, which is Motion on the status of pending bills in counties. Clerk, proceed to call that Order."
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"speaker": null,
"content": "MOTION"
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"speaker": null,
"content": "STATUS OF PENDING BILLS IN COUNTIES"
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"content": "AWARE THAT, as at 31st December, 2023, according to the County Governments Budget Implementation Review report for the first half of the financial year 2023/2024, County Governments had accumulated a total of Kshs156.34 billion in pending bills with Nairobi City County accumulating the largest share of Kshs107,037,053,000 followed by Kiambu and Mombasa counties at Kshs5,711,614,412 and Kshs. 3,922,131,877, respectively; CONCERNED THAT, the accumulated pending bills in counties have significantly affected service providers in the counties leading to closure of businesses, stalling of county projects, adversely affecting economic growth in counties, service delivery and ultimately slowing down the country’s economic growth; FURTHER CONCERNED that most of the service providers in the counties are battling court cases lodged against them by their financiers and suppliers while others are languishing in poverty exacerbated by the increased cost of living, with increased mental The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"id": 1403430,
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"content": "health disease incidences and others dying as a result of the effects of colossal amounts of debt owed to them by county governments; NOW THEREFORE, the Senate 1. recommends that all County Governments pay verified pending bills amounting to less than Kshs1 Billion by the end of this financial year and those above Kshs1 billion by the end of the financial year 2024/2025; and 2. Resolves that i. pursuant to the provisions of Regulation 41(2) & (3) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015, County Governments prioritize payment of pending bills as a first charge on the County Revenue Fund failure to which the subsequent quotas budget releases will not be done; ii. County Governments shall only pay pending bills contained in their respective procurement plans pursuant to Regulation 50 (2) & (3) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations; iii. Supplementary budgets for county governments are prepared in the 3rd d Quarter to curb instances of arbitrary re-allocations out of the approved budget estimates; and iv. County governments shall conduct public participation while formulating supplementary budgets, failure to which the Controller of Budget (CoB) shall not approve the supplementary budgets."
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