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{
    "id": 1151288,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1151288/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 203,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "I hope that the Committee would look at that issue. I have no problem with the county government transferring money to the national Government. However, if you transfer that money to the national Government, what happens to the constitutionality responsibility of those functions as per the Constitution? The learned Senators in this House can dig deep into that issue and look at the way the Bill has been drafted, its constitutionality and see how we can remove the double standards. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the second issue that is a big concern is that, in every financial year, county governments have been crying that the ex-chequer releases are delayed or sometimes they do not get their money. If your read Section 17(6) of the Public Finance and Management Act which this Bill refers to says- “The National Treasury shall, at the beginning of every month, and in any event not later than the fifteenth day from the commencement of the month, disburse monies to county governments for the expenditure of the following months” Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Bill also clearly mandates the Cabinet Secretary (CS) in charge of National Treasury. Clause 4(2) of the Bill says that- “Each county government’s allocation under subsection (1) shall be transferred to the respective County Revenue Fund (CRF), in accordance with a payment schedule approved by the Senate and published in the gazette by the Cabinet Secretary in accordance with Section 17 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012.” It again mandates the Cabinet Secretary to release that money immediately. If the National Treasury is unable to release that money on time, it is then about time we amend the Public Finance Management Act and give the National Treasury the leeway to disburse the money when they have it. Let us amend the Public Finance Management Act, so that we can give them a leeway when they say that they do not have the money. Mr. Speaker, Sir, secondly, I was listening to Sen. (Dr.) Ali, when he was talking about the issue of pending bills. He said that if God allows him to become the next governor, he may not be able to pay the Kshs5 billion which is owed to suppliers. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if the law in this Bill that we are passing requires that certain ceilings be put in place and it also says that first in, first out, why should we be having pending bills? My advice is that, instead of doing any development, the new governors who will be coming into devolution for the third time should now decide not to do any development for that one year, including yourself, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish you all the best. Go and pay all the bills that you either incurred and never paid when you were the governor or the one that your successor has incurred. God willing, you will also become his successor. It is the only way we will have sanity in these matters of devolution. I support this Bill but I hope that we can clean up those inconsistencies and require that whereas the national Government has transferred any function to the county governments, it is also treated the same way a county government transfers function to the national Government."
}