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{
    "id": 1241234,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1241234/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 308,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "to be the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Finance. However, today, you will find that the way IFMIS is coded at the Controller of Budget (CoB), we have somebody called approver one, approver two and those who approve at different levels. It is not strictly exposed to the adherence of who then is the accounting officer. Therefore, in a place where you punish an accounting officer with a bill of Kshs5 million or five year’s jail term, yet it was completely out of their control, how then do you account for that kind of officer? Madam Temporary Speaker, it is critical that before, as a Senate, we think about passing this Bill, we need to look at the progression between this Bill and the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal (PPAD) Act of 2015, which was actually ratified and approved by this Parliament in 2020. I find a lot of what has been proposed by this Bill as having been taken care of by the PPAD Act of 2015. I just want to help Sen. Mariam Omar in looking at some of the clauses that have come here. I think they are the most substantive clauses. I did not pick all of them but the most substantive ones. If you look at Clause 4 on prompt payments of accounts; the timelines within which payments have to be made to contractors is set at 60 days. The period starts from the day of the receipt of the invoice. That is what it is proposing. Further, goods must be properly certified before payment. However, this is addressed by Regulation 150 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal (PPAD) Act of 2019, in exactly the same way. Clause 5 of what is proposed here on Priority of Payments is also provided for in Regulation 139(1) and (6) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2020. I have spent time talking about Clause 7 on interest rates. Section 140 of Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act provides for the same. Nonetheless, with a more scientific method on how to deal with the questions of reporting, computation and funding those interests. So, it already provided for. Clause 9 on Offences, I think is becoming emotive in the House, because people are talking from the perspective of paying different service providers from an emotive perspective. Clause 9 is a replica of Section 176 (a) and (c) of the PPAD Act whereby it provides for penalty for delay in payment beyond the contractual period. Madam Temporary Speaker, this Bill is also very innovative around looking at the invoicing system which is a very good idea. It is captured in Clause 6 on the Return on Invoice. However, this one could also be well addressed under the contractual agreement between the supplier and the procurement entity under Dispute Mechanism that is already provided for under PPAD Act. Lastly, my attention was drawn to Clause 8 on Fair Dealing. I think this is a valid issue. However, on this Fair Dealing, in the Public Procurement Act, there is a regulation that the contract should be provided on the contractual obligations of each party so that each party is held accountable."
}