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{
    "id": 1546065,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546065/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 168,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13588,
        "legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
        "slug": "osotsi-godfrey-otieno"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I beg to move- THAT, the Senate adopts the Reports of the Select Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds on the consideration of the Audit Reports for the Financial Year 2023/2024 for Diani, Eldoret, Iten, Kapsabet, Kakamega, Kilifi, Kisii, Kinango, Kwale, Lamu, Lunga Lunga, Malindi, Mumias, Mwatate, Nyamira, Voi and Wote municipalities, laid on the Table of the Senate on Thursday, 27th March, 2025 and approves the recommendations of the Committee on the financial statements of the respective Municipalities for the Financial Year 2023/2024. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have had a very rigorous three weeks considering various reports in line with Article 229 of the Constitution, so that we can beat the deadline of 31st March, 2025. It was not easy, but we have handled a significant number of reports for municipalities for Financial Year 2023/2024. First, I commend the Office of the Auditor-General for considering the financial statements of municipalities. It is now in the third year when the Auditor-General is looking at the statements of municipalities. A lot of donor funding is being put in these municipalities and even transfers from county governments. In the past, they were not audited, but the Auditor-General has done a commendable job to audit these municipalities. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the major problem with municipalities at the moment is the lack of independence of the management and the operations of these municipalities. In our examination of these audited reports, we found out that municipalities are still being run as a department of the county executive, which is contrary to the Urban Areas and Cities Act under Sections 12 and 20, which requires that municipalities must be autonomous in managerial, financial and operational autonomy. Some of the municipalities do not even have boards and municipal managers even though they have been gazetted. That was a common query in most of the municipalities. We also had a lot of challenges in terms of financial control and lack of budgets. You find that the funds for municipalities and the county executive have been commingled, which brings a lot of challenges. 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."
}