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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Olekina, you have the Floor."
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"id": 1406012,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
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"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to make some comments and support the Statement that you made in your capacity as the Senator for Garissa County. 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": 1406013,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406013/?format=api",
"text_counter": 341,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
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"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
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"content": "The issue of accountability is important. Article 179 of the Constitution defines the executive authority of the county, which is vested in the county executive committee consisting of the Governor, the Deputy Governor and the County Executive Committee Members (CECMs). Article 179(4) says that the governor is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and the deputy governor is the deputy CEO. Then you have the 10 CECMs, which have the Chief Officers, who are the accounting officers. The Chief Officers have the authority to incur expenditures. When the Senator presents a Statement indicating that Garissa County does not have Chief Officers, it begs the question of whether the county exists. We sit in this House and devolve funds to counties. If you read the two Articles my brother Sen. Cherarkey has read, one is Article 225, which defines the process by which funds can be stopped from being sent to counties. The Constitution states clearly that Parliament shall enact legislation to ensure a fiduciary responsibility. One of my biggest pet peeves is when we have counties - we sit here, and some of us, by the time we leave this Parliament, have broken backs. We sit here to defend these counties. Is there any logical explanation as to why the good county of Garissa does not have chief officers? What is so difficult? Is it an issue of clannism or incompetence? Many young Kenyans can work as chief officers. This is a serious omission that begs the question my brother, Sen. Cherarkey, deluded me on the issue of the Controller of Budget (CoB). How does the CoB release funds to the County? Who authorises those releases? I am looking at my brother, the captain, party leader and Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee. Maybe he could clarify this. I have read the Public Finance Management Act and know it like the back of my hand. The chief officer is the one who requisition funds. If you look at the daily cash requisitions sent to the CoB, we have the signature of a gentleman called Ole Naingesa, the Chief Officer for Narok County. What is the name of the Chief Officer for Garissa County? Ole Fulani? Who is it? I am curious. These are some of the things we need to take seriously. I thank the Senator for Garissa for bringing that matter to the attention of the Senate. These are issues that must be looked at if we are to have a country. As I conclude, there was a Statement that was brought by my brother Sen. Cherarkey. What I would like the Committee to do when they are investigating the issue of floods in the Expressway is to inform this House of the terms and conditions of the Public Private Partnership of the Government and the management of the Expressway. Are we, as a country, supposed to use public funds to repair and maintain the Expressway? We know the terms of the agreement regarding Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT). If the company that built the Expressway operates it, are we supposed to incur expenditures? Are we supposed to be inconvenienced by the poor workmanship of the Expressway, where you find that it is flooded? When you come to the lower road, building a road on top will affect the road people are using. Were there terms and conditions set out for the maintenance of that 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": 1406014,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406014/?format=api",
"text_counter": 342,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
"slug": "ledama-olekina"
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"content": "road? These are things we need to understand so that when we ask questions, we can understand how to respond to our people. The floods are affecting many countries. Today, as I was sitting here, I was watching a clip of a gentleman from Tanzania who was arguing that there were no floods, yet you could see the floods next to him. He was saying in Swahili that in the case of mafuriko, if the water levels are not up to your windows and entering your house, flooding it, you need to go out. If you are marooned in your home and cannot leave, it does not mean it is mafuriko . On a serious note, we should think seriously about this issue. We must consider our infrastructure and see how best to improve it annually when we carry out our budgets. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir."
},
{
"id": 1406015,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406015/?format=api",
"text_counter": 343,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Senator. Sen. Ali Roba, you have the Floor."
},
{
"id": 1406016,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406016/?format=api",
"text_counter": 344,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Ali Roba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Statement by the hon Senator for Garissa County. I wish I were rising to say something in defense of my former colleague, Governor Nathif Jama Adam. It is a sad situation and a serious embarrassment for our region to be told that the governor has not appointed chief officers and has acted in complete disregard of Section 45 of the County Government Act, which says – \"(1) The governor shall— (a) nominate qualified and experienced county chief officers from among persons competitively sourced and recommended by the County Public Service Board and (b) with the approval of the county assembly, appoint county chief officers. (2) The office of a county chief officer shall be an office in the county public service.\" What this section means is that these are accounting officers of departments. An accounting officer of a department that has not been vetted and found qualified and fit to hold office cannot purport to be holding an office in the name of acting. Chief officers not appointed by the County Public Service Board, vetted by the County Assembly, are becoming accounting officers of departments in Garissa County, which is a grave violation of the law that governs what is required. How do you justify this as a governor? It is embarrassing because Governor Nathif Jama is a very close friend of mine. Now to be informed that since August 2022, and now the month of April 2024, the governor has not put in place chief officers and has illegally assigned directors to act in the position of chief officers as accounting officers is illegal. I do not understand, honestly whether the CoB will approve the release of funds to persons who are not properly authorised to be accounting officers because the law is clear. Section 45 of the County Government Act stipulates how county chief officers are appointed to be office holders. You cannot delegate or appoint anybody who is not vetted in an acting capacity. The last time Governor Kawira was impeached, she was let off the hook because of the foul language used against her. This is because as a governor, you cannot appoint 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": 1406017,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406017/?format=api",
"text_counter": 345,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Ali Roba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "anybody in an acting capacity or give double roles to persons, for example, a chief officer who could hold another office. This is unless that person has been competitively recruited, vetted by the county assembly and appointed by the governor to hold the office. This situation is a blatant violation of the law that must be dealt with. We have to do this in the interest of the public of Garissa County. The illegal office bearers cannot purport to be accounting officers of departments, illegally outside the law. I support."
},
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"id": 1406018,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406018/?format=api",
"text_counter": 346,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Proceed, Sen. Wambua."
},
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"id": 1406019,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406019/?format=api",
"text_counter": 347,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13199,
"legal_name": "Enoch Kiio Wambua",
"slug": "enoch-kiio-wambua"
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I have known the Senator for Garissa to be a very patient leader. I did not know that the patience would be as much as has been demonstrated today. The Senator for Garissa has persevered with the shame and the rot in the administration of the executive offices of the County Government of Garissa. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is very little that anyone can say about the situation obtaining in the county executive of Garissa. I always fall back on the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations. Sen. Abass and your team, if I were you, I would be making arrangements on how we are leaving for Garissa maybe this evening, to just witness and be sure that what the Senator for Garissa is saying is actually the truth. If it is true, then I would suggest that two things happen. One, that, the Committee first orders and directs the CoB, to forthwith stop disbursements to the County Government of Garissa."
},
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"text_counter": 348,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Applause)"
}
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