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{
    "id": 524858,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/524858/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 187,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker. First of all, let me apologize. I lost my card during the long recess. I also would like to wish you and my colleagues a happy New Year although it is now old. This is the first time I am finding myself in this Parliament this session. First of all, I agree with you that the Constitution spells out under the Fifth Schedule what laws need to be passed at what time to actualise the 2010 Constitution. Article 226 of the Constitution on public audit and accounts is one of those Articles that are required by law to be passed within four years. Therefore, it is up to this august House to pass this law. Having said that, I have looked at this Bill and it is very progressive in many aspects. This is because the previous Acts had omitted, or were not robust in terms of addressing issues of accountability and public audits. Taxpayers pay money to finance Government and public activities but that money must be accounted for. Who stands in for the people of Kenya in terms of ascertaining and examining the books of accounts to be sure that the money is well spent? It is the Office of the Auditor General. That is why it is one of the offices that are clearly protected by the Constitution. It is given security of tenure for eight years, to be precise, which are not renewable. This is to make sure that the office is shielded from any political power play. We, therefore, needed a robust law to actualise this. However, I have issues. I just want to raise concerns with the issues where I think a lot needs to be done rather than talking about the positive sides of it. I will mention a few but I want to dwell on those areas that I think should have been done differently. First of all, I want to address myself to Clause 8, which will become Section 8 if this Bill is passed in its current form. Clause 8 speaks to some of the powers of the Office of the Auditor-General. I have no issues with many of these powers from (a) all the way to (i); (j) says:- “In addition to what is provided for under any other relevant law, and in consultation with the Public Service Commission and the National Treasury, develop and maintain a code of conduct and ethics for the office, specific to auditing, guided by the International Code of Practice, and Code of Ethics issued by the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions.” I have issues with involving the Public Service Commission (PSC) in determining the code of conduct and ethics for the office. This is because if we want to provide help to the Auditor-General then we can do it through an equally competent professional body. This law provides for an Audit Advisory Board. That is the body that you can involve in helping to advise the Auditor-General’s Office on the code of conduct and ethics for the office and specific to auditing guided by the international code of practice. If you start involving the PSC and any other office that is supposed to be audited by the Auditor- 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."
}