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{
    "id": 1503195,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1503195/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 435,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to reply. Allow me to appreciate all the contributions made. To an extent, I agree with Hon. Oundo on the question of pending bills. It is important that we settle all our pending bills. Hon. Oundo knows that under the Public Finance Management Act, pending bills constitute the first charge to the Exchequer. Therefore, that is the only point of variance in using pending bills as part of our public debt. They are not part of public debt, they are by law supposed to be the first charge to the Exchequer. With accrual accounting, we also cure some problems with pending bills. When people have not been paid at the end of every financial year, debts have automatically become pending bills. With accrual accounting now, we will sort out many of those issues in a big way. Secondly, I engaged with the Deputy Leader of the Minority Party on provisions around the amendment of Section 50 of the Bill. You will see differences if you carefully read what is in Clause 50(2C) versus what was in Section 50(2C) of the principal Act. The principal Act says that the Cabinet Secretary shall, not later than five years from the date of coming into force of subsections (2A) and (2C) that set the threshold of 55 plus 5 per cent, take measures to ensure that borrowing by the national government complies with the threshold prescribed in subsection 2A. That meant the Cabinet Secretary had five years to ensure compliance. As we speak, we are in breach of a law that we created. This amendment came from the advice of the Attorney-General that we are actually in breach of a law that we set. That is why it is now reworded to say that the Cabinet Secretary shall, not later than five years from the date of coming into force of this Act, take measures to ensure that national government borrowing complies with the threshold prescribed in subsection 2A. It is just to create room. The country will not be considered to be in breach of the law within that period of five years. We will have a five-year period within which we must correct what is breached. As I said, we were already in breach as of the time we enacted this amendment. That breach has continued. That is why the Attorney-General advised that we reword that section to comply with the law. With that, thank you to all the Members who have contributed. I beg to reply. Thank you."
}