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{
"id": 1568402,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1568402/?format=api",
"text_counter": 256,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Firstly, allow me to congratulate the Chairperson and the Members of the Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture for their diligent work. If the Members noticed, some of these accounts like those of NACADA run from the Financial Year 2017/2018 all the way to the Financial Year 2020/2021. Many of the accounts that you have seen, even for KBC, run back to the Financial Year 2000/2001 up to the Financial Year 2012/2013. I am saying this because it is important for our oversight committees to work to ensure that all the public sector audited accounts are up-to-date. The Auditor-General is very diligent in ensuring that she audits all parastatals and Government accounts by mid-year. Therefore, it behoves us, as a House, through the oversight committees - whether it is the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) or the three Public Investments Committees - to ensure that we review these audited accounts and make reports in good time. That is why I take the liberty to congratulate the Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture. Without anticipating debate, I also congratulate the Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education because I see they also have reports to be considered in Order No.10. To also note, some of the parastatals whose accounts have been reviewed, like Kenyatta National Hospital, as much as they are up to 2020, there are pertinent issues that I heard the Chairman speak to yesterday, which need to be addressed. More importantly, if you go through that Report, you see the issue of undeclared or unaccounted for imprests. Imprest is not free money to be given to public officers. Every Government agency should follow the example of Parliament. Members of Parliament also get imprests. For instance, you get per diem when you are travelling. If you do not account for it, it will either be recovered from your salary the following month, or the next time you are due to get imprest, you will not get it. That is why in our audited accounts, as Parliament, you will never find unaccounted for imprest, be it from Members or staff. All these Public Investments Committees, whether it is that on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture, or that on Governance, or even the one on Commercial Services, should ensure that they move towards a system where imprest is accounted for promptly, as the Chairman was pushing yesterday in his moving. I keenly listened to the Chairman, Hon. Wangwe; issues that touch on all these parastatals, whether it is Kenyatta National Hospital, KEMSA, the Kenya Veterinary Board, or NACADA, all have an overriding issue of unaccounted for imprest. It must be clear to every public officer that when you get imprest, this is money to carry on your official work. Once you are done, you should account for that money. If you do not account for it, then you should be surcharged. I agree with what the Committee has recommended. Ultimately, the buck stops with the office of the accounting officer. In this case, the principal secretaries in those ministries. If they do not enforce, as holders of the authority, to require expenditure in the parastatals to ensure that they recover the imprest, then they should be surcharged. It is part of their accountability that they have been charged with as accounting officers. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}