HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, POST, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"count": 1608389,
"next": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=138854",
"previous": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=138852",
"results": [
{
"id": 1404941,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404941/?format=api",
"text_counter": 317,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": "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."
},
{
"id": 1404942,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404942/?format=api",
"text_counter": 318,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Faki",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13211,
"legal_name": "Mohamed Faki Mwinyihaji",
"slug": "mohamed-faki-mwinyihaji-2"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have risen to the comments from Sen. Orwoba. It is my humble opinion that those comments should be directed to the committee that will be dealing with this statement when the committee sits. This is because she is sort of contradicting the request from the statement sought by Sen. Onyonka. I thank you."
},
{
"id": 1404943,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404943/?format=api",
"text_counter": 319,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Gloria, I hope you are guided."
},
{
"id": 1404944,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404944/?format=api",
"text_counter": 320,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am well guided. However, I am also guided by the same Standing Orders that we have on this Floor; that I can contribute and add my voice to a statement that has been read. I come from Kisii County and I am sure that Sen. Faki does not come from Kisii County. As I comment and contribute, if Sen. Faki is in that committee, these are some of the things he should take to it to consider. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would like to highlight that Kisii County has had a history of ghost workers and this comes from the previous county government. It is an issue that has been highlighted in the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare and even in this House. Some of the questions that Sen. Onyonka has raised should be looked into. As we are playing oversight and coming to highlight issues of counties because we are the ones who come from those counties and we know what happens there. We should also be able to guide the House within the legal framework because we are guided by the County Government Act. There is an important issue which Sen. Onyonka highlighted, that Kisii County has had two financial year budgets and he claims they have been disqualified. It is true that the Controller of Budget (CoB) has raised certain issues in those budgets. However, in my opinion, Kisii County lacks capacity in their Ministry of Finance to draft budgets that are guided by our laws. Sen. Onyonka talked about over Kshs200 million worth of transactions that have been voided by the IFMIS. When a transaction is voided by IFMIS, it is not a county government official who does that. We all know that sometimes when there are problems and if, for instance, there is an error, IFMIS and officers on the other side will be forced to void that transaction. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we should be asking if we can be given the reasons for the voided transactions. One can have more than 1,000 voided transactions; not because they are doing any corrupt dealings, but they do not have the capacity to do the right thing. If we have accountants in the House, they will tell you that a small error can cause the CoB to disqualify a budget. It is true that we have Kshs5.4 billion that is domiciled in the County Revenue Fund (CRF) account. This is because you cannot spend money against a budget that already has been disqualified by CoB, so to speak. It is an issue of the chicken or the egg. If you have fronted two budgets that have been approved by the county assembly, but they have been disqualified by CoB, you are usually given a reason. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, they may say that maybe you have exceeded the spending percentage of human resource. What I see happening in this issue of Kisii"
},
{
"id": 1404945,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404945/?format=api",
"text_counter": 321,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "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."
},
{
"id": 1404946,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404946/?format=api",
"text_counter": 322,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "County having money that it is unable to spend. Based on the facts that I am presenting, is that we lack capacity to do so. This is something I call upon the Governor to consider. If you have made one wrong decision on a budget, there is no way again you will repeat that wrong decision. The CoB is highlighting all these things being done wrong. The Senate Committee on Finance and Budget and that of Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, should probably carry out a capacity building to the team that is involved there. That is how we are supposed to assist to ensure that devolution is working. Otherwise, the Kshs5.4 billion is domiciled in the County Revenue Services (CRS) account. If you know how county assemblies work, that money is within the county assembly. As soon as we figure out the issue of the red flags that are being highlighted by the CoB, then we should be able to spend that. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I conclude by saying that the issue of employees, both at the national and particularly at county level - we have governors who towards the end of their term, because they know they are leaving, turn employees into permanent and pensionable. This is an issue that is being discussed even now by our Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management. We have to understand that county governments are constituted every five years. It is an executive entity that is influenced by politics, what we need to legislate and cure is to ensure that any person coming to work gets a contract of five years because the same County Government Act gives the governor the power to bring a new team. So, then what happens to the old team? Automatically, in order for us not to have a bloated wage bill, the old team has to either resign or be fired. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in all fairness, Kisii County is trying very hard to work within the constraints of our legal framework on the county governments. I am happy that we are being told Kshs5.3 billion is still domiciled in the CRS account and has not been looted. Other county governments do not have money in their accounts, yet they have nothing to show of it. If the budget has raised a lot of red flags, I would rather have the governor together with the county assembly taking their time to ensure that we are following the processes of procuring or whatever it is that we need to do to spend that money. With these remarks, I do not know which committee these questions and statements will be directed to, but I urge them not to take anything on face value. It is not in good faith to bring a list of 40 people who you claim have been fired illegally, yet they are all Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) or staff members from the old regime. I support that statement in the sense that Kisii County needs capacity building on the financial element, so that the CoB does not keep sending us back to go sit down and do the right thing. Thank you."
},
{
"id": 1404947,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404947/?format=api",
"text_counter": 323,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. (Dr.) Oburu Oginga of Siaya."
},
{
"id": 1404948,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404948/?format=api",
"text_counter": 324,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Oburu",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 194,
"legal_name": "Oburu Ngona Odinga",
"slug": "oburu-odinga"
},
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I will comment briefly on the statement sought by the Senator for Machakos County, Madam Agnes"
},
{
"id": 1404949,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404949/?format=api",
"text_counter": 325,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Oburu",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 194,
"legal_name": "Oburu Ngona Odinga",
"slug": "oburu-odinga"
},
"content": "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."
},
{
"id": 1404950,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404950/?format=api",
"text_counter": 326,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Oburu",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 194,
"legal_name": "Oburu Ngona Odinga",
"slug": "oburu-odinga"
},
"content": "Kavindu. This is on the failure of the State universities to remit statutory deductions from their employees. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is a very serious problem and it is not only with the universities, but also many State corporations that they do not remit those deductions they make from their workers. This affects the workers not only at the time of their retirement, but even while still in employment. If you take an example of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), people are insured with their families and their monies are deducted every month from their salaries. However, when they go to dispensaries, health centers or hospitals to seek treatment, they are denied treatment because they are not up to date in their contributions. This affects the livelihood and many people even die because you do not get treated. Sometimes, you do not have any other money to pay for the treatment and the only way is to go to heaven. There is also the other issue of people being detained in hospitals because of a lack of money to pay, yet money is being held by the employers. Counties do it. They always find that the easiest money to use are statutory deductions because they are deducted. There is nobody immediately demanding that they remit these monies to the institutions concerned. Finally, if it is pensions, you might not be aware that your university has been deducting pensions from your salary every month, which you see glaringly. However, you might also not be aware that these same people are not remitting the same to the institutions where that money is supposed to go. Sometimes they take it with good intentions that they will refund it when their monies come because sometimes remittances from the Government delays, particularly for universities. However, money is sometimes sweet and the needs are very many. When they eventually get their allocations from the Ministries, they find that they cannot remit it to those institutions because nobody has demanded from them. Therefore, they continue to spend these monies, which turn into what is called the pending bills. This thing called pending bills is a very big monster. It is something that has made businesses collapse, sent people bankrupt and made many people commit suicide because they do not have any other ways of paying their debts when they have contributed to the Government and continue with their normal businesses. We must find a way of eliminating pending bills from the Government. There should be some measures of punishment for those organisations that deliberately dip their hands into statutory deductions that they have made from the workers. This is from the workers' sweat. These people have to sweat to earn, yet when deductions are being made, the organisations even use it sometimes on luxurious things. These people are completely unaware that these deductions are not being put to proper use where the monies are supposed to be put. I stand to very strongly support the statement sought by Sen. Kavindu. I hope the committee to which it has been referred will do thorough investigations and report back their findings on these statutory deductions to this House. Thank you."
}
]
}