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{
    "id": 1276770,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1276770/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 76,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Central, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Dr Makali Mulu",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "people to do the job. On that note, I would have expected the Committee to come up with very clear recommendations saying that such CEOs are not worthy of being CEOs in this country. Hon. Speaker, the other issue I would like to comment on is the delayed submission of accounting documents to the auditors by the management teams of these institutions. Interaction with officers from the Office of the Auditor-General leaves you with the impression that the legally allowed three months period for submission of documents by an accounting officer after the end of a financial year should be reduced to two months. I say so because the accountant units of these institutions keep on preparing their documents throughout the year. There is no good reason they require three months to consolidate their accounts. This is to allow the Auditor-General more time to prepare audit reports for public institutions. This being the First Report of the Committee, we can understand. Afterward, reports from the Oversight Committees need to be very firm so that we send the right signal to accounting officers of public institutions who think they can play around with public resources, especially when this country is struggling to meet its basic requirements. This is when we must ensure that every single cent goes to the intended use. Another issue I would like to comment on is private consultancies that do costings much more than actual project costs. Some of us, with a background in programme management, cannot understand why a consultancy becomes more expensive than the cost of the project itself. In this case, those involved should find their way into court or be investigated by the EACC or the DCI. Finally, I would like to comment on the issue of skewed employment in favour of single-ethnic communities. This is a very common practice in this country. It is not surprising to find senior managers conducting meetings in their vernacular. Yet, we keep on saying that, as a country, we are 45 different ethnic groups, and the Constitution demands regional balancing in public employment. This House should be discussing such important issues so as not to appear to be toothless dogs. We have what it takes to remedy the situation. I was happy when the Whip of the Majority Party said he was ready to crack the whip so long as the Report recommends. It is our work as the Minority Party to make sure that we make appropriate recommendations. We have a big role to play. I have always believed that these audit reports will be taken seriously the moment we tie these reports to the budgeting process such that if an accounting officer has audit queries, we make sure that the budget of his institution is reduced until he satisfactorily responds to those queries before we give them more money. If we do that, this House will become more effective in doing its work. That can only be done if we ensure proper timing. This Report covers the period up to the financial year 2020/2021. However, we have the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 financial years and will soon have the 2023/2024 financial years. As you can see, we still have arrears of about two years. Suppose we want to tie budgeting with auditing. In that case, we must make sure that the audited reports are in this House promptly so that this House can make resolutions that can inform the budget process. With those many remarks, I support the Report."
}