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{
    "id": 420878,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/420878/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 278,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the adoption of these Reports. I would like to say that, indeed, I am concerned like other Members about the issue of the currency of the information in these Reports. That is because we are debating two Reports for 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. I want to congratulate the Committee for making this unprecedented move to bring the two Reports. I want to encourage the Committee that by next year, they should be ahead of the Auditor-General, so that the issue is not that we are dealing with a backlog from parliamentary committee. We will be putting pressure on the Office of the Auditor- General to actually bring reports on time. The reason it is really fundamental is this: If you actually refer to Article 203(3) that you are talking about, these Reports are the basis for division of revenue between the national Government and counties. If you are going to use the audited Report of 2010 as a basis for budgeting for our counties now, we will not actually be giving them the correct position in terms of the monies we are giving. So, I would like to encourage the Committee to really hasten with the reports and, indeed, I want to congratulate them again for this unprecedented move that they have made. I just want to mention the issue that was raised in the Report about the funds that should be wound up. The Chairman, when he was moving the Report, indicated that a taskforce was set up, disbanded, set up again and given more time. This Committee has a lot of powers under Article 226(5). I want to encourage the Committee that even as they go back to look at the other reports, they use the power that they have under Article 226(5) to deal with errant officers. That is because you cannot have a taskforce that wants to sit forever. Then why is it a taskforce? Use those powers to disband that taskforce and even draw your own conclusions in terms of the funds that should be wound up. We know that we are currently having a very serious debate about pay cuts; it is targeting very poor Kenyans. It is targeting teachers, civil servants and if you look at this Report, it shows that we have so much wastage of public money. We have taskforces that have outlived their usefulness. I want to ask the hon. Ababu-led Committee to hold the bulls by the horns; if you have taskforces that do not work, let them go home. We do not need them. The other issue that came up very strongly is under-expenditure and under- collection of Appropriations-in-Aid (A-in-A). I also want to refer to that especially in the light of the current debate. We cannot be saying that, as a country, we are having a challenge of paying salaries, when we cannot even utilize what we have; we cannot have what we are being given by our donors. The crisis we have is of management, and I want 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."
}