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{
    "id": 1078354,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1078354/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 478,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Godfrey Osotsi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13172,
        "legal_name": "Godfrey Osotsi",
        "slug": "godfrey-osotsi"
    },
    "content": "First of all, there is the issue of pending bills. Even in the Budget which we were discussing, it is a problem even to the national Government. I want to support the proposal by the Budget and Appropriations Committee that we need to have a fund domiciled at the national Treasury to manage this challenge of pending bills. They have proposed we have a long-term bond that will be used to manage the problem of pending bills. I think the same should be done to various county governments because we understand there are various reasons why counties have pending bills. One of the reasons is when funds are disbursed late to the counties and they have programs which they need to implement. They are not able to implement those programs in time and end up having challenges of pending bills. But largely, it is because of non-adherence to the law and particularly the PFM Act and Public Procurement and Disposal Act. The second challenge is the issue of disbursement. Last night we saw some of our governors making very desperate calls to the Government to release money to them. Really, we must be very sympathetic to the governors because how do they run counties without money. I think in a way we have to relook at our laws in terms of releasing money. We can even say the first charge on the Exchequer should be the loans and debts and the second one should be release of money to the counties. This is because they cannot run their programs successfully when funds are released to them very late. They have plans in place but they do not work because there is no money. The money comes late and when it comes, maybe, they have very short time to use it. I think this is a very serious problem and, as Hon. Duale has said, one of the functions of the Office of the Controller of Budget is to monitor programs and projects in the counties. I think they should be in a better position to advice the Government on the issue of release of funds. We know one of the challenges could be lack of an exchequer but, when it is found, I think it is very critical that county governments are given priority. This is because in law, they are required to have the funds. The other challenge we have in counties is oversight, as has been said by one of the Members here. I think a lot needs to be done to improve the oversight function in the counties. We do not want to just hear about MCAs impeaching governors. We want effective oversight in the counties under the Senate. I think it is high time the Senate stopped poking their nose in the functions of the National Assembly and focus on the many challenges facing the counties, including the challenge of pending bills. There are too many issues the Senate can deal with. Sometimes, I see the Senate handling issues which are primarily the role of the National Assembly, when we have a lot of issues which require their interrogation. Oversight is really an issue on the management of counties right from the county assemblies to the Senate, which I think we need to look into and strengthen. If it will require increasing the capacity, we will need to increase their capacity so that they can perform. As has been said by one of the Members, there is the issue of the degree requirement. I think it is important. We need to have people who can understand complex audit reports by the Auditor-General so that they can raise questions. However, we have a situation where we have members of the county assemblies whose only strength is that they were able to mobilise votes, but they cannot even speak English. You remember at one point there was another county assembly that passed a Motion that they can even speak in vernacular. That becomes a problem. I think the issue of oversight is very key in the counties and it is something that we must look into so that we can enhance devolution. Some of the counties have challenges in terms of the money allocated to them, what they spend on Recurrent Expenditure and what they remain with to spend on capital projects. I think if 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."
}