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{
    "id": 1276755,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1276755/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 61,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "those reports in the House on time. Audited reports are critical because when we prepare the national budget, the money allocated to the county governments depends on the latest audited Report. Therefore, I thank the Chairperson and the Committee because their work will go a long way in determining whether county governments will get more money in the next budget cycle. Because the Minority side chairs many oversight committees, I urge the Leader of the Minority Party to hasten those reports to allocate more funds to the counties in the next budget cycle. It is very important. I also urge you to request other oversight committees to bring their reports to this House on time. Secondly, I thank the Committee for flagging important issues in this Report on educational institutions. It is on record that many of our educational institutions are not well- managed. We must flag these issues so that we improve. Many things included in this Report have also been mentioned in the Report tabled by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms. The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms, which Prof. Munavu chaired, is trying to change how education is managed. It is in the same spirit that this Committee has made its recommendations. There is a dovetailing of ideas, which is good for the country. I want to mention specific things. As a government, we cannot take the flak for CEOs who have been given jobs but are not performing well. If you are an accounting officer, do your job. Your job is to follow the Constitution, the statutes, and other laws that are in place to ensure that you manage our educational institutions very well. That is something we agree on with the Minority side. Public institutions must be well-managed. There is no excuse for any CEO mandated to run an organization to say they do not know or understand the accounting procedures. We will not take that from any CEO in this country. If you are managing a public institution that you have been appointed to by this government, do your job. You have no excuse for saying you are ignorant or do not understand. It was very sad to read in this Report that some accounting officers were ignorant or non-compliant with the various provisions of the law, especially the Public Finance Management Act. Ignorance of the law is no defense. I wish this Committee could come up with very radical recommendations. Whoever cannot comply with the PFM Act is corrupt, and we do not need such a person in the government. One of the things that CEOs want to get away with is not submitting documents. I am happy that this Committee has noticed that some CEOs want to avoid submitting the requisite documents to the Auditor-General to run away from audits. Every CEO managing an educational institution must submit themselves to audit. You are handling government funds and must be audited and accountable to the public. This Committee must not accept excuses from CEOs who do not want to submit themselves to audit through late submission of documents. Such a CEO must be censured. We are ready to do so as a government. We do not want CEOs who will not submit themselves to audit. Hon. Speaker, another interesting finding of the Committee is that there are still government institutions that are putting up big buildings on land for which they have no title deeds. The law clearly states that government institutions must invest in land that belongs to the government. Why are the CEOs of such institutions investing in land that does not have title deeds? Such CEOs are not doing the government justice. Suppose someone comes to claim that land and a government building has to be brought down. That CEO must take responsibility. As you make these recommendations, I agree with you that CEOs of educational institutions must henceforth comply with Section 68 of the PFM Act by ensuring that they have all the required government documentation for the institutions' land. Institutions that do not have title deeds must ensure that they get them. Another interesting observation by the Committee is that a government institution has been constructing a building for 37 years. Either the institution does not have a dependable CEO, or the CEO does not know their work. How do you construct a building for 37 years? 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."
}