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{
    "id": 524804,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/524804/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 133,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Chanzu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 11,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
        "slug": "yusuf-chanzu"
    },
    "content": "There should be a way for us to facilitate these officers as we operationalise what is in the Constitution through this Bill. We should facilitate it fast enough, so that we can move with speed and as the expenditure is being incurred, there is also a timely way of checking on what is going on. Then we can apprehend before it gets too far. If you look at the recent report that was published by the World Bank on how the county governments had spent the money that was appropriated by the National Assembly and the Senate, in some sections the report states that they have spent less than 15 per cent on development. Others spent more on development. When you ask some of them, they say that they spent a lot of money on salaries. I was wondering whether there is a part of Kenya where you do not employ workers. Some of them spent over 50 per cent on development. However, that is just post mortem and huge amounts of money are involved. When you talk about misappropriation of, for example, the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), it will be about Kshs60 million or Kshs70 million, but when you talk about the county governments, you are talking about Kshs5 billion or Kshs3 billion. So, in terms of percentages, when this money gets lost, a lot of money is lost. For effective management of internal controls, risks and the overall function of the systems by the State organs, it is important that the capacity of the Auditor-General is enhanced early enough. This means that we must provide adequate funds for the establishment of offices both at the head office and also the ones that we need to create at the county level. The other day I was talking to the Auditor-General about how he follows up the money that goes to Government institutions and county governments and he was talking about underfunding. They are proposing to have Kshs1.5 billion in order to do their work effectively. Funding is a very important issue as we come to discuss this Bill. Officers at the Auditor-General’s Office must be Kenyans who are above board. There is a lot of temptation. When some of these officers go to the offices where they are supposed to audit, those whom they are supposed to audit dangle a carrot, the officers get tempted and are not able to do their work effectively. The issue of recruiting officers to the Auditor- General’s Office must be taken seriously, so that we can get officers of high integrity who can withstand the temptation of the little kickbacks that are given in order for them not to do their work properly. I know some of them who are taken to hotels instead of going to audit where they are supposed to audit. They work from hotels and are given some little money and they do not do the correct job. It is necessary that we get people of high caliber and patriots who care about the welfare of the country as a whole. I have talked about the issue of timeliness. It is necessary that the audits are done on time, so that we do not lose as a country and a lot of money does not go down the drain. The Bill also talks about the administrative powers of the Auditor-General in the organisational structure and staffing. That is quite good. I hope that when this comes out, they will come out with a proper structure which covers all that we need to audit as a country bearing in mind that our country is growing very fast. If you look at the period between 2003 and this year, you will find that in the year 2003, this country operated at an annual Budget of Kshs283 billion."
}