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{
    "id": 1076198,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1076198/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 332,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Garissa Township, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Aden Duale",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support the Report of the PAC for the National Government for the 2017/2018 Financial Year. I thank the Chairman, Hon. Opiyo Wandayi, the Member for Ugunja, for putting the case well. However, let me go to the legal aspect of it. Article 201 of the Constitution provides for the fundamental principles that must guide the management of public finances in Kenya. What are these principles? They are both found in the Constitution and in the relevant laws. These constitutional principles are on openness, that there must be openness, there must be accountability, there must be public participation, there must be prudent and responsible use of public money, and there must be direct personal liability on accounting officers as provided under Article 226(6) of the Constitution. These principles are found on the Chapter on Public Finance. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, going through the examination of these Financial Statements, we found that there are instances - I happen to be a Member of this Committee - where accounting officers bluntly violated the provisions of the Constitution and the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012, and its attendant regulations that this House has passed. The role of an accounting officer as provided in law is to be the steward of the public in ensuring proper utilisation of public resources in a lawful and in authorised manner. That mandate of the accounting officer must be to promote effective, efficient, economical, and transparent use of public funds as appropriated in the Appropriations Bill by this House and as founded under Section 61(1) of the PFM, 2012. The Public Accounts Committee Report before this House contains 124 national Government financial statements which were examined by the Auditor-General in relation to the year that ended on 30th June 2018. My analysis and that of the Committee, these financial statements indicate that a number of financial statements were unqualified or received unqualified opinion. What unqualified opinion means in the Auditor-General's term that they are not good reports from the Auditor-General. That dropped from 46 financial statements which was representing 36 per cent of the previous year which was 42 per cent. So, there was a drop. There were extra financial entities under examination that received unqualified reports. However, in the same year, financial reports with disclaimer opinion, which is no opinion reports, increased from 11 financial statements in 2016/2017 Financial Year to 14 in the financial year under consideration in this House today. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to speak to the 14 financial statements with disclaimer of opinion. When you get a disclaimer opinion, what does the Auditor-General tell you? The Auditor-General is telling you that she could not make head or tail on the responsible accounting officers who were managing the public resources that were appropriated to these entities. According to the Auditor-General, the 14 financial statements that received disclaimer of opinion, what did they do? They exhibited serious and significant missed statements. They had limitation of scope in terms of providing documents, there was lack of record keeping, and they had a problem with reconciliation of bank statements and accounts in violation of the Public Finance Management Act. We must name them. Who are these entities? These entities include the State Department for Planning and Statistics, the State Department for Agriculture, the National Youth Service 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."
}