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{
    "id": 1081484,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1081484/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 725,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kibwezi East, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Jessica Mbalu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 432,
        "legal_name": "Jessica N. Mbalu",
        "slug": "jessica-mbalu"
    },
    "content": "As a Committee, we refer to ourselves as a postmortem committee. On the Audit Reports, during the debate after Hon. Opiyo had moved, hon. members emphasised the importance of PAC Reports in our country especially because of devolution. The adoption of these Reports is a constitutional duty of this House in accordance with Article 203(3) which provides that revenue allocated to county governments shall be calculated on the basis of the most recent audited accounts of revenue received, as approved by the National Assembly. Equally, the equalisation fund under Article 204(1) is designed to end marginalisation of some areas in the country. It is calculated on the basis of the most recent audited accounts of revenue received, as approved by the National Assembly. Adoption of this Report is a win to devolution. I want to thank the Members who have contributed to this. The 47 counties in Kenya are yearning for more funding. Adoption of this Report will inform how revenue will be shared between the two levels of governments, the national and county governments. The Report, therefore, recommends that the total national revenue collected forms the basis of sharing revenue between the national and county governments as contemplated in Article 203(3) of the Constitution. And these reports ensure that more money will go to counties. As a Committee, we spend sleepless nights to come up with these reports. In the last few weeks, including last evening, we have been considering issues of Budget. We call ourselves a postmortem committee. It is important for us to look at the use of the money allocated to various Ministries. We should look at the recommendations in this Report in a different light. Allow me to point out a few issues. As much as we allocate money to various Ministries, it is important to look at its expenditure. In fact, that is the work of PAC. That is why we call ourselves a postmortem committee. Why would you give money to a Ministry or State Department and yet it cannot account for previous expenditures? We would be doing our work in vain. Members who have contributed to this Report have made it clear that we need to be very careful on expenditure of funds. Members of Parliament and the people we represent in this House have a right to know how public money is spent. It is the responsibility of PAC, PIC and the Select Committee on NG-CDF to ensure that money allocated by the National Assembly is spent prudently. A majority of Members are concerned with the management of the monster of pending bills. It is the finding of the Committee that the Government has paid non-genuine suppliers while genuine suppliers have not been paid. Our recommendation is that we should ensure that genuine suppliers are paid. It is about public debt management and the monster that is the pending bills. The Report also observes that debt has accumulated over many years. This has been talked about by many Members and I really appreciate that. Indeed, this is a postmortem committee. The PAC is one of the most important committees because it does postmortem of what the National Assembly, through the committees like the Budget and Appropriations, has done. It would be so bad if we do not look at what we have given to Kenyans through the relevant Ministries. We must always do an audit of the same. I want to thank the Auditor-General for bringing up issues. Most of the issues that have been recommended by the Auditor-General are very critical. We have looked at issues on unsupported documents. Given my accounting background, I want to tell this House that I am a holder of a first degree in Bachelor of Finance from the University of Nairobi. I have a Master’s degree in Strategic Management from the University of Nairobi."
}