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{
    "id": 417596,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/417596/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 178,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "given its power. If we have to respect the people of Kenya, the best thing to do is to respect the delegation that they decided to give to each arm of Government. That should happen to Parliament, Judiciary and the Executive. Hon. Speaker, I think we should be very worried if the courts are issuing order to stop Parliament from transacting any business. I would have wished that the Judiciary waits for Parliament to make a decision and then they interpret the law. If they feel that Parliament has not followed or obeyed the legal or constitutional provisions; there is nothing wrong with the courts pronouncing themselves on the decisions we have made. Even a few months ago, twice or thrice we heard Judiciary comment on some of the decisions that Parliament had taken. Hon. Speaker, we have given you a very difficult job of making a ruling on a matter that is putting the Legislature at conflict with the Judiciary. I would request that, even as you make this determination, you need to take a step as the head of the arm of Government that feels aggrieved, to reach out to your counterparts from the Judiciary, so that it is not seen as if it is a war between the Legislature and Judiciary. There is not going to be any winner or loser, it is the people of Kenya who are going lose. We would like to see a situation where we are not forcing the Judiciary to do what they do not want to do, but we are asking them that they are overstepping their mandate. If it is a matter of being excited, we ask then to please, do it to some level so that we are also allowed to operate. Finally, even as I say that, I would also like to point out that even as the Legislature, we would also need to be a little bit more careful. For me, I would be reluctant to really condemn governors. I know this may not be very popular with my colleagues. Allow me to say it. If you look at the Public Finance Management Act, Section 24 - if I knew this matter was going to come up, I would have carried it - it is clear that in matters of accounting and explaining expenditure at the county; that responsibility is given to county treasuries. I do not know what is so difficult; why do Senators not invite heads of treasuries at the county level so that we do not have governors leaving their stations to come and sit in Nairobi to discuss issues they may not even have the technical capacity to explain? I am saying this because I am a finance person. I know the governor, just like the President may not have the capacity to explain the day-to-day running of the various departments in the counties. Lastly, sometimes when we pick reports from auditors - with all due respect to the Auditor-General – we find that they are misinterpreted. I have no doubt in my mind that sometimes, some of the accusations that we are flying left, right and centre, may not actually be true. If we are saying that governors have stolen money, let the report be debated first. I have seen it even in Public Investments Committee (PIC). I have sat in PIC for five years. I am currently sitting in Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Sometimes you find auditors’ reports coming before committees and when you interrogate them, you realize that documents for verification were there, but the auditor did not go back to the office to check."
}