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{
    "id": 396421,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/396421/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 154,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Hargura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 827,
        "legal_name": "Godana Hargura",
        "slug": "godana-hargura"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Motion knowing that we are in a new dispensation where we have the devolved governments and these are some of the problems we should expect. We all acknowledge that we are new to this but I do not think some of the issues which are being raised are because of that. From what happened between the executive and the county assembly, there is a problem of the budget making process at the county level. We have a case where the executive submits its budget, the county assembly discusses it and changes it. From there, the office of the Controller of Budget, from which this Report has originated has not given us the mechanisms of what happens after that. That is the one thing which is missing. If the County Assembly does not agree with the executive committee, what mechanisms have been put in place to deal with that? If you look at this Report, the contention was actually between the budget of the Governor’s office and the county assemblies. That is where the reduction and increase is coming up. If you look at the Report, it says that the executive actually prepared the budget of the county assembly which was faulted. It states very clearly that it was the Clerk to the assembly who was supposed to have prepared the budget. This Report might not be addressing the real issues. It might not assist us to solve this situation. It is only that this Report is about Turkana, but I tend to think that it is a widespread issue and there is need for the Controller of Budget to give us a report on how the other 46 counties performed. The reports are supposed to be published and publicized but even in our own counties we are not sure of which budget is being implemented because we have not seen the budgets that have been submitted. So, I think this is a widespread situation which goes hand in hand with the fact that what the Governor submits is not what the county assembly has approved. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Controller of Budget should be able to tell us the mechanism of going about this when they disagree. Was there a ceiling for the county assembly budget? That is where the contention is. You can see that they were given about Kshs600 million and the budget that was submitted by the county assembly on 3rd May, 2013 was Kshs645 million. The County Assembly went ahead and changed their budget to Kshs1.2 billion. This shows that they introduced their own budget and that is where the reduction came from. I think there are issues with regard to the budget making process which the Controller of Budget can assist us by bringing it out in the Report. Then there is the issue of the two arms of Government at that level and how they relate because there is the issue of who makes the budget and who approves. How does the county assembly make its own budget and then approve it? This will enable us weed out the issue of county assembly members voting for themselves what ought to have been approved by the Salaries and Remuneration Committee (SRC) in terms of car grants, mortgages and ward allocations because that seems to be what the Governor is trying to remove from the budget, although unprocedurally. The guidelines must be very clear The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}