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{
    "id": 524855,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/524855/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Lati",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2762,
        "legal_name": "Jonathan Lelelit Lati",
        "slug": "jonathan-lelelit-lati"
    },
    "content": "Revenue Fund and only under the Controller of Budget should the money be released to counties for use. I think this law is good now that it places this power with the Auditor- General to try and help us collect enough revenue in the counties. The money will assist in development work and reduce the kind of expenditure that we have outside development in our counties. Hon. Speaker, Clause 10 is important because it talks about the independence of this very important person in our country. It states that, that person shall not be subject to direction or control of any authority or person. This is very important for an Auditor- General. We want an Auditor-General who is impartial and has all the independence required, so that he can carry out the forensic audit without fear or favour. That way, we will tell the position of our country in terms of prudent use of our resources. It is important that, that person stays extremely independent for our resources to be managed effectively. Clause 20 completely contradicts the independence that we purport to give that important person. At some point, I thought that the Office of the Auditor-General should have been some sort of constitutional commission. The Auditor-General, like any other independent institution, say, Parliament, Judiciary and others, has a budget to run his work throughout the year. The least you would expect that person to do is to be answerable in terms of finances to another office and, particularly, the Executive and, more importantly, the Treasury where most of the monies are stored. So, for the budget of the Auditor-General to be subjected to review by the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury, I think that takes away the entire independence that you have given to that person. How independent can you be if you are dependant in terms of budgeting and financing to the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury? He is the same person you want to audit now that most of Kenyans’ money ends up in the Treasury! How independent can he be? Unless we correct that anomaly here, there will be problems. We need to make sure that the Auditor-General is not subjected to the whims of the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury in terms of budgeting. We are putting that person in a very dependant position. We have to take away the Cabinet Secretary so that he is not the final one to submit to Parliament in terms of the Auditor-General’s budget. We need to have an amendment that says something to the effect that the Auditor-General, like all independent commissions, say, the Parliamentary Service Commission, submits its proposed budget to the Budget and Appropriations Committee of Parliament. Within that Committee, then we can see what we can reduce and what we can increase. We need to remove the Auditor-General from the control of the Cabinet Secretary. This is what is happening in other countries. In fact, in all the countries that I have looked at, the budget committees have exclusive control. Even in the USA, that is the case. They have exclusive control of revenue raising and budget appropriation. That is what we need here. We need the Auditor-General and all other independent commissions to be answerable only to the people who are elected by the people of Kenya. That way, we will have better results in terms of forensic audit. Kenyans will be in a position to follow up and see how prudently or corrupt the money is being used. So, subjecting the Auditor-General to the Cabinet Secretary makes this whole affair look like an exercise in futility. I will propose amendments at the right stage. I hope this is something that the rest of us can see clearly. 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."
}