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    "id": 438684,
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    "content": "advertising and communications, human resource management, finance, procurement and others, to reap economies of scale, and learn from leading practices in the public and private sectors. This is to be buttressed by the service level agreement to guarantee effectiveness, automation of requisite business processes and the policies/legal legislative review. The reform will also allow for national Government Ministries to concentrate on their core mandate without distraction. Development Budget absorption remains a critical challenge exacerbated by bureaucratic procurement processes as well as poor planning. Having a clear understanding of the requirement and timelines for procurements and appeals, a programme management team should be in a position to begin and conclude procurement processes in good time. With the launch of procure to pay system of the IFMIS, which envisions an end to end automated procurement cycle, it is anticipated that we shall soon reap our benefits. In the interim, it is imperative that Ministries put in place or enhance effective program implementation units with requisite technical capacity and expertise to efficiently and effectively implement program activities within stipulated timelines and in conformity with administrative and procurement procedures. This will also help in resolving the challenge of Program Based Budgeting by putting in place technically proficient teams that can develop, budget implement and monitor programs, and hence satisfy the Program Based Budgeting requirements of the Public Finance Management Act. Programme implementation units should be in a position to implement components of inter-ministerial program seamlessly if established. The National Treasury must similarly champion reforms to cash management framework. Currently, commitment controls are based on approved budgets and not projected cash availability. This leads to the risk to the payment of arrears and pending bills in the event of revenue shortfalls and budget re-allocations. The system of Government held bank accounts also hinders efficient budget execution through insufficient liquidity. Thousands of bank accounts are held in commercial banks and the National Treasury does not have information on the balances in those accounts. It cannot, therefore, use those balances to help finance budget execution without having to borrow. This should further be supplemented by a robust reform to the Exchequer management and release processes. My Committee appreciates that the process of transition within the new Constitutional dispensation would require considerable resolve, patience and pragmatism. It is noted that various institutions within the National Government, and between the National and county Governments, will need to continually define their mandates and operational spectrum, especially where there are incidences of shared mandated or transitional complexities. It is, however, imperative that immediate and deliberate effort is made to define to the lowest granular level, the distinctions in operational mandates in view of their implications on budget preparation, monitoring and evaluation. My Committee notes that national Government institutions such as the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development and the National Land Commission are in the process of designing their operational mandate and not without a little trouble, if I might add. Ministries with substantively devolved functions are also in the frost of redefining the transitional complexities of existing programs. The Budget and Appropriations Committee recommends that consultations and decisions on any transitional arrangements are concluded at the earliest point possible, in order to support the distinct 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."
}