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{
    "id": 381928,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/381928/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 110,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Billow",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 260,
        "legal_name": "Billow Adan Kerrow",
        "slug": "billow-kerrow"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I appreciate the points raised by Sen. Kajwang. These things should have been done, but what happened in this Financial Year is that everything seems to have started late, because of the late elections which were held in March. The whole budgetary process should have actually been done well before April, that is, from September, last year. However, it is important to note that none of these counties have actually received this money. We are talking about budgets now and this can, again, be amended through a Supplementary Budget. This is because provisions for amendment of the budgets by the county assemblies are provided for in the Public Finance Management Act. So, if we are talking about how to manage the resources that they are going to get in the next two or three months, there will be a schedule on which money will be released by the Treasury. So, I think that county assemblies can still have an impact in terms of addressing some of the areas. If, for example, money has been provided for on areas that are not a priority, the county assemblies can still make amendments to address those areas. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Section 107 of the PFM Act is very clear that there are fiscal responsibilities that must be complied with. For example, not less than 30 per cent of that budget should actually be spent on development projects. Regarding the position raised by Sen. Muthama, actually Section 107 of the PFM Act provides that the county assemblies cannot approve a budget with a deficit. So, some of these things are very clear and going forward, we will be working very closely with the Treasury and the Controller of Budget to ensure that the county assemblies and county government executives do not flout the regulations and laws. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir."
}