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{
    "id": 1375798,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1375798/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 232,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mandago",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13577,
        "legal_name": "Kiplagat Jackson Mandago",
        "slug": "kiplagat-jackson-mandago"
    },
    "content": "Having served as a Governor, I do not find any good reason whether a governor, a Principal Secretary (PS), or a Cabinet Secretary (CS) can have not to appear before any committee of Parliament. As I stand here, I proudly say that I am among the governors who honoured all the summons to the Senate without failure except one when I was on paternity leave. I saw my colleagues and friends, the governors, asking the national Government to increase the allocation to counties to Kshs450 billion. You cannot expect to receive public resources and also refuse to account for the uses of the same resources. I stand here as the Senator of Uasin Gishu County having served as a Governor. Today, if I am asked the step aside in my role as a Senator to appear before any committee to explain expenditure that occurred during my administration as the Governor of Uasin Gishu County, I would be more than glad to do that because it gives you the chance to exonerate yourself. I urge the governors to take positively the opportunity they get to appear before committees and use it to improve the systems. That is why I am also a champion of increasing the number of Senate Mashinani that we can have to build the capacities of counties. When Senate Mashinani came to Uasin Gishu County, I asked the County Public Accounts Committee to give me a chance to present, my County Executive Committee Members and the Chief Officers, to also answer the questions for which we had been appearing to the Senate. I can assure you that the subsequent financial years, we had minimal errors. We never had issues of non-submission of documents. From there, the quality of audits in my county improved. I, therefore, support this amendment by Sen. Osotsi because it is completely frustrating when officers are called to come and account. I sympathize with the County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) and County Public Investments and Special Fund Committee (CPIC) considering the workload. When you have to reschedule for 15 officers, for example, it makes the work of that committee impossible to function. The committee appears ineffective in front of the House, yet it is not the making of that committee. Therefore, I persuade all my colleagues that is extremely important to support this amendment. I agree with my colleagues in terms of even making it a little bit more stringent particularly in the quest to enforce the recovery of those fines. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would like to urge my colleagues, Senators, that even as we summon governors, we should begin thinking of how to get the Chief Officers (CO) who are the accounting officers together with the County Executive Committee Members (CECMs, who are the heads of policy in the departments; to be part of the people being held responsible and accountable. At the national Government level, you can summon a Cabinet Secretary but cannot put the responsibility on the President. For counties a Chief Officer, a CECM together and a County Secretary can do their own things but, finally, the Governor will be held accountable. I urge governors that they get the opportunity to exonerate themselves when they are asked to appear before the committees. They can then put forward their explanation and the relevant officers can then be taken to account. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}