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{
    "id": 1126948,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1126948/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 427,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Amos Kimunya (",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "I cannot over-emphasise why we did this. The Senate, perhaps, has major limitations. When you look at Article 96 of the Constitution, it basically talks of the Senate having oversight over the national revenue that has been allocated to the county governments. It does not talk about the expenditure, or about own-revenue raised by the counties. So the Senate can only oversee the national revenue that has been appropriated to the counties. It is not even very clear what that oversight means and whether it is to ensure that Treasury has sent the money. This is because it does not talk of expenditure. If it is expenditure, it would have been very clear. We tried to bring that amendment within the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional amendment. It was an amendment to Article 96 that Senate shall have oversight over the national revenue and the expenditure thereof as well as own-revenue and expenditure at the county level. That way, the Senate would have something to do granted that our devolved structure gives that power of oversight to the county assemblies. The governor appears before the county assembly, presents his budget and integrated development plan and the budget is approved by the county assembly hence he is obligated to actually report and account to the county assembly. However, when you look at the Constitution, there is some lacuna in terms of direct linkage and how the governor is supposed to account to the county assembly. We have seen cases where governors become choosy. When they think they have better friends in the Senate, they will go and try to appear before the Senate. When they think the Senate matter is hot, they then go and appear before their respective county assemblies and then claim double jeopardy relief. The matter then disappears in between those two."
}