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{
    "id": 1408792,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1408792/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 240,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "lack of accountability opens the door to fraud and misconduct. This unethical behaviour undermines the integrity of the payroll system and has resulted in massive financial losses in counties. The committee has since invited the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management, the Council of Governors (COG); and the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) to deliberate on this issue. Again, for emphasis, the National Wage Bill Conference was held about two weeks ago. However, the representatives of legislature were left out and yet some of the interventions required to tame the unhealthy wage bill could rise from budgetary allocations, appropriations by Parliament, statutory or regulatory reforms. I hope that can improve in future. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, during the interrogation of the Auditor-General’s Reports for various county entities, the committee also noted with concern the persistent accruing pending bills, including non-remittance of statutory deductions to the relevant state agencies. The committee has directed the entities to take sustainable measures to address this matter and further directed the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) and the Controller of Budget (CoB) to closely monitor adherence to this directive. I am glad to note that Sen. Ledama Olekina has brought a Motion to this House on the subject of pending bills. During the interrogation of the various county entities during this period, the committee noted that most entities failed to disclose their contingent liabilities in their financial statements. Some of the contingent liabilities may arise from litigation in progress, guarantees, indemnities, letters of comfort/support, insurance and Public Private Partnerships. Whereas county governments do not need to recognize a contingent liability in their statements of receipts and payments, they need to disclose details of any contingencies in the notes to the financial statements unless the possibility of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits or service potential is remote. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, some of the counties with the highest contingent liabilities, include the Nairobi City County, with a contingent liability of close to Kshs21.7 billion. Kiambu County has Kshs497 million, and Meru County has Kshs601 million. Other counties did not disclose their contingent liabilities, but there was evidence that there was litigation in progress. If these matters went against some of the county governments, they would be technically insolvent. We saw that with Uasin Gishu where if the issues that are in court were to go against the county government in totality, then the county government would have to pay much more than the revenues they earn locally and from the equitable share revenue This is a matter we have insisted needs to be disclosed. On issues to deal with presentation, accuracy and completeness of the financial statements, the committee has observed that accountants in various entities have often prepared financial reports, which do not comply with the Public Sector Accounting Standards. This amounts to gross negligence in their conduct of professional duties and constitutes professional misconduct pursuant to Section 8(a) and 30 of the Accountants Act, CAP 531. 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 and AudioServices, Senate."
}