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{
"id": 1550052,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550052/?format=api",
"text_counter": 331,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Suleka Harun",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Another important issue highlighted in the Report is about the internal audit departments. Most of our Government agencies have not established them, which is very unfortunate. They act as safeguards. They promote accountability and transparency. They ensure that strategic goals are achieved. I urge MDAs, which do not have internal audit mechanisms, to put them in place. They prevent many of the challenges we have in our auditing systems. I urge the MDAs which have internal audit mechanisms to follow the strict procedures that are outlined for the requirements of internal auditors. This will ensure that we are compliant with the Public Audit Act. Hon. Temporary Speaker, there is a lot of wastage in our public offices. I urge the accounting officers, finance officers and everybody else handling money in public offices to ensure that they use public money prudently. Let us ensure prudent use of the public resources 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": 1550053,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550053/?format=api",
"text_counter": 332,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Suleka Harun",
"speaker": null,
"content": "we are entrusted with because it is not our money. It is public money. Every person in those offices should ensure that the money is used as budgeted for. Thank you very much."
},
{
"id": 1550054,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550054/?format=api",
"text_counter": 333,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
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"content": " Hon. Irene Mayaka."
},
{
"id": 1550055,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550055/?format=api",
"text_counter": 334,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Irene Mayaka",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also stand to support the Motion. Before I make my remarks, I would like to congratulate my brother and Chairperson of the PAC, Hon. Tindi Mwale and the Vice-Chairperson, Hon. Udgoon. The two, together with Hon. Kuria Kimani and myself, belong to the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA). It is a proud moment for us to have fellow Members of the KYPA doing a fantastic job. I would like to urge them to continue with the good job. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as the Chairperson of the Committee has said, this is the second Report by this Committee. We are in the middle of this parliamentary session. I have a lot of hope and trust that they will burn the midnight oil and give us one or two more reports. Yesterday, when we were discussing the Division of Revenue Bill, one of the things that came out very clearly is that we are basing the calculation of our division of revenue on the past financial years instead of using what is happening currently. From our scrutiny of the Report shared by the Committee, they have given us general observations that cut across all our State departments and other organisations that they reviewed. There are some issues they observed which are very sad. One of them is poor accounting standards and general incapacity. This happens and yet we have qualified accountants in the State departments. Even as the Committee recommends that the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAK) should enforce compliance, we also need to review the engagement that the professions have with ICPAK. The accounting profession, which some of us belong to, is a very noble profession. We would not want it to be put into disrepute just because some people have decided not to adhere to the accounting standards that we have. I have also seen a suggestion that there should be periodic sensitisation and capacity building, which is very much okay. However, when practising in a certain profession, whether it is law, medicine or accounting, it is a personal responsibility to ensure that you update yourself with what is going on in the market. We should not be given excuses by our accounting colleagues that they cannot give us substantive reports that are within the accounting standards. This is because the reports have a ripple effect on a lot of other things that we do as a country. Hon. Temporary Speaker, there is also an observation on late submission of supporting data. This is very closely tied to the first observation because it just speaks to irresponsibility and people not taking their job seriously. This House cannot tolerate that because we also have very high standards in terms of expectations from the public. We should not accept other people to do a job that is not good enough because they represent the public. They run State departments, which have direct effect on what goes on in the country. There is also the issue of the continuously recurrent monster called the ‘Pending Bills.’ As my colleagues have said, this particular issue is affecting people out there. People are getting depressed. People are unable to sustain their businesses. Business people are unable to move forward. The recommendation that the Committee has given, which I agree with, is that the National Treasury should approve only projects that can be financed. Let us be prudent enough to look at things and be realistic as we approve some of these things. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the other issue that has come to the fore is the issue of interest and commitment fees that are charged. It is quite saddening for the Committee to report to us that we have situations where loans have been approved and disbursed, but they have not been utilized for the intended purposes, and that those loans are already accruing interest. Those are not good financial standards. We are paying interest on loans that are not even being utilised. That is very discouraging. Therefore, the Committee’s recommendation that the National 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": 1550056,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550056/?format=api",
"text_counter": 335,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Irene Mayaka",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Treasury should only enter into agreements for loans whose project implementation plans are ready is very important. I think that is a very good recommendation from the Committee. The final observation that I am keen on is about the delay of compensating land owners. The Land Acquisition Act of 2012 is very clear in terms of acquiring land and compensating the owners. It does not say that you acquire, start using and then compensate. Maybe this is another thing that the Committee needs to recommend ― that, we review the particular Act, because there is a gap in this law. We cannot start by acquiring, utilise and then compensate. The law on mandatory land acquisition does not speak to such sequence. This is very sad because the people whose land has been acquired using the law in place end up suffering because the projects take off when they have not been compensated. That is extremely unfair. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I also want to point out something else that the Committee has done that is very commendable. Beyond the financial recommendations, they have also looked at policy recommendations. The policy recommendations will help not only in trying to stop what is already happening, but they will also help in terms of ensuring that we leave behind a legacy of putting in place policies that will ensure that we have better auditing standards in this country. That is very important. Also, very important to note is the fact that based on the total shareable revenue calculation that was done, it has increased to 22 per cent for the Financial Year 2021/2022 compared to the 2020/2021. Hon. Temporary Speaker, once again, I congratulate the Committee members for the good work they have done. I encourage them to try and fast-track the next financial year’s report so that we can be up to speed with what is currently happening. With those few remarks, I support."
},
{
"id": 1550057,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550057/?format=api",
"text_counter": 336,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
},
"content": " Next is Hon. Major (Rtd) Dekow."
},
{
"id": 1550058,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550058/?format=api",
"text_counter": 337,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Garissa Township, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Dekow Mohamed",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I also congratulate the team that has come up with this Report. Year-in, year-out, we get these reports. Even before I came to Parliament, the Auditor- General had been producing these reports, which are tabled in the House. But it seems that nothing has been happening in terms of implementing the Committee’s recommendations and observations. It would be very unfair for the team of Hon. Tindi Mwale to have sittings up to the wee hours of the night preparing such a beautiful document, only for it not to be implemented by the concerned public agencies. This country is not short of learned people. It is unfortunate that today we are talking about accounting officers who are not adhering to the set standards. It is not that they do not know. In my opinion, they deliberately ignore the standards, both in their professional bodies and in Parliament. It is, therefore, important that as we adopt these reports, we have a follow-up mechanism on implementation. The Report we are discussing today is for Financial Year 2021/2022. We are now in 2025. We are already late by three years. It will even be difficult to follow up the matters raised with the institutional memory because accounting officers might have left their places of work. We have been told by the Chairman that the Auditor-General does not get adequate support in terms of the documentations they require from accounting officers of MDAs. The Vice-Chairman has said that accounting officers are always available during the budget-making process, but whenever they are asked to submit documents or appear before the Committee to clarify certain information, they disappear. That is deliberate. My suggestion is that the Report should be shared with Departmental Committees dealing with audit queries. We should tell the accounting officers of those MDAs that there will be no allocation of funds until they clear the audit queries with the Auditor-General. That way, they will wake up, be on their feet and follow-up on these reports. 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": 1550059,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550059/?format=api",
"text_counter": 338,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Garissa Township, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Dekow Mohamed",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Another very important issue that was reported by the Chairman and addressed by my colleagues is pending bills. This is a very serious issue. Pending bills are affecting many businesses in this country. There must be a policy to ensure that no supply contracts are given to Kenyans unless money is available, and not necessarily budgeted for. We have seen budgets approved in this House based on work plans, but there is no liquid money to pay contractors and suppliers. Again, there is a tendency by MDAs to divert certain money to other projects that were not in the budget, in the hope that money will be allocated in subsequent budgets. Once that particular accounting officer leaves the office, there is no follow up for the money. The MDAs have so much pending bills but there is no money forthcoming from the National Treasury. My suggestion would be that until money is deposited with the MDAs, they should not advertise contracts or give go-ahead for the implementation of projects. In my constituency, there are three major projects at Garissa University. Students are learning under trees because there are no tuition blocks or adequate learning infrastructure. We are stuck. There is no value for our money. There are projects that are 30 per cent complete and have been paid for. The rest are not paid for. The President talked about the e-procurement programme in his last State of the Nation Address. All Government agencies must go through that process by putting their tender documents on that platform and the National Treasury should only release money to programmes that have gone through e-procurement. However, the MDAs have refused to implement the programme. The same applies to e-Citizen. The President himself is frustrated by bureaucrats. It looks like we are being shown the middle finger by Government officers. It is not only Parliament but also the Executive and the President. The issue of pending bills must be addressed, otherwise we are going to have a collapsed economy. Businesses can only generate taxes if they are functioning. The Government cannot demand payment of taxes and yet it has not paid for the services it has been provided. Withholding payments for goods and services rendered kills businesses and people. It sends others into depression. Hon. Temporary Speaker, with those few remarks, I support the Report. I ask the Committee to make a follow-up on these issues, especially the recommendations and observations. It should provide the Reports to the Departmental Committees, so that when we meet MDAs, we can tie their budget allocation to the queries raised by both the Auditor- General and PAC. It would be a waste of time if the Auditor-General keeps on bringing reports year-in, year-out, and nothing is implemented. It will be a waste of time for Hon. Tindi Mwale and Hon. Udgoon to sit in big hotels to draw up these reports and yet nothing comes out of them. Mheshimiwa Mwale and your team, congratulations for the good work that you have done. Please, follow up on this issue so that officers can be charged in court for not implementing or observing these recommendations."
},
{
"id": 1550060,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550060/?format=api",
"text_counter": 339,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
},
"content": " Is the Member for Karachuonyo in the House? Proceed."
},
{
"id": 1550061,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550061/?format=api",
"text_counter": 340,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Karachuonyo, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adipo Okuome",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. An audit report is helpful in letting us know what has gone wrong for purposes of correction. Delays in audit report preparation can be caused by lateness in receipt of funds from the Government, either at the county level or the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). However, that is not a good reason for committing expenditure and acquiring goods and services while not paying service providers for a long time. Many Kenyans are facing poverty or are out of business because of pending bills. This is an important issue. To help Kenyans grow economically, business people should be liquid, so that they can run their businesses. Accumulating pending bills is a harmful way of getting money from business people. The Government borrows from those people and fails to pay them. That is 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."
}
]
}