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{
    "id": 1546066,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546066/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 169,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13588,
        "legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
        "slug": "osotsi-godfrey-otieno"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as for the issue of even staffing, we find that most of the municipalities do not have staff of their own. They have staff who have been seconded from the county executive, which, again, is contrary to the provisions of the Urban Areas and Cities Act. Municipalities are also struggling with bookkeeping issues, accuracy and compliance to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), leading to audit queries and raising concerns about the competence of finance managers. I also want to add to what the Chairperson of CPAC has said that it is high time that we took strict action against accounting officers and accountants who violate the Accountants Act. We also had challenges with late submission of documents. Most of the municipalities that appeared before us brought supporting documents at the point of appearing in the Senate. We have a very lengthy audit process, and one wonders why counties are not able to deliver the documents within the stipulated period in law for examination by the auditor, but when they appear before the Senate, they bring loads and loads of documents, knowing very well we do not have capacity to go through all of them. Moving forward, we have agreed as a Committee that we will invoke the provisions of Section 62(2) of the Public Audit Act that declares that to be an offence punishable by payment of a fine of Kshs5 million or imprisonment for three years or both. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, because of time, allow me to quickly go through the issues that were common in all the counties. This is just because we have gone through the issues that were common in all the counties in terms of municipalities. One is lack of operational autonomy, which I have pointed out. There are issues with preparation and accuracy of financial statements and compliance with reporting standards. There are issues with asset management. Most municipalities do not have asset registers. That is a major risk in the management of assets. There are issues with budgetary control and performance, where you find that budgets do not balance or there are no budgets, or underfunding or underutilisation of budgets. The Committee made a number of resolutions contained in the Report. Because of time, I will not go through all of them. One fundamental resolution is that the House, after the passage of this Motion, should give the Committee time to go and conduct detailed inquiries into the reports and report back to the House. The Committee should also carry out inspection visits to the municipalities to examine some of the issues raised in the audit queries. I must commend the Office of the Auditor-General for thinking it right that it is important for municipalities to be audited. That, in a way, is going to enhance accountability for Own-Source Revenue, which most municipalities generate. Maybe that is the reason most county governments do not want to give autonomy to municipalities. I must also report with sadness that this House gave a charter to Eldoret City. As we speak, that charter has not been operationalised because the Municipal Manager proceeded to court. He said because Eldoret is now a city, he wanted to become a city manager. The Urban Areas and Cities Act is very clear. There is no transitional mechanism for a municipal board or manager to a city board or manager. The Act only provides that whenever a municipality becomes a city, a new city manager and board must be 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."
}