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{
    "id": 476024,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/476024/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 84,
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    "content": "yesterday and will be adopted by the National Assembly today. The equitable share of revenue shall not change from the initial Kshs226.66 billion but there shall be an additional conditional allocation for Level 5 hospitals. After that, the County Allocation of Revenue Bill will then proceed to be processed next week. In the meantime, counties can use Section 134 of the Public Finance Management Act which outlines action to be taken in case of delays in enacting the County Appropriation Bills that may be occasioned by delays in the revenue allocation process. We are aware that most counties still have sufficient balances in their respective county revenue funds that can be applied under Section 134 to pay salaries and other essential expenditure. Consequently, we want to clarify that there is no crisis of funding in the counties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the budgets, we are aware that the Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA) has set certain budget ceilings on expenditure to ensure that there is prudent use of finances in the counties. The Commission is empowered under Article 216(2) to make recommendations on matters concerning among other things the financial management by county governments in formulating this recommendations, CRA shall seek according to that Act to encourage fiscal responsibility. Section 102 of the Public Finance Management Act also demands that County Governments adhere to the principles of financial management outlined in Article 201 of the Constitution which, among other issues, requires that public finance shall be spent in a prudent and responsible way. It is also important to note that the Public Financial Management Act, Section 107, stipulates that certain fiscal responsibilities and principles must be adhered to in the formulation of county budgets which include, and I quote:- “Recurrent expenditures of county governments shall not exceed its revenues and that a minimum of 30 per cent of the county governments’ budget shall be allocated to development expenditure.” Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this regard, the Controller of Budget under Article 228(5) of the Constitution shall not authorize withdrawals from the County Revenue Fund unless she is satisfied that the laws have been complied with. In this particular case, for instance, she has to ensure that these budgets from the county governments meet the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act and guidelines issued by the CRA. It is in this regard that we fully support the Controller of Budget in her efforts to ensure that financial management is streamlined in the counties in accordance with the laws and regulations. Finally, we have noted that some county assemblies have piled pressure on the county executives in determination of how much resources shall be allocated for various programmes and/or projects and have even demanded that the funds be allocated to them in their respective wards for their determination and management. It is important to draw the attention of Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) or the county assemblies to the principles of financial management in Article 201. Moreover, Section 131(2) of the Public Finance Management Act outlines that they cannot amend the budget forwarded for their approval by the county executive in any manner that they want and that they must “take into account the views of the county executive member for finance”. 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."
}