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{
    "id": 524943,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/524943/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kihagi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2481,
        "legal_name": "John Karanja Kihagi",
        "slug": "john-karanja-kihagi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance. I want to support the Bill. Audit, as a post mortem exercise, should actually tell us what happened or what did not happen. In this case, we are talking about public funds and what happened to public funds that are hard earned by Kenyans. These are funds raised by the Government through taxation or from loans acquired by the Government on behalf of Kenyans. Such loans are to be paid by the current or future generations of Kenyans. Therefore, the fact that expenditure of such funds ought to be thoroughly audited need not be overemphasised. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are talking of a Budget of more than Kshs.1 trillion. Therefore, we should empower the Office of the Auditor-General, even in a more rigorous manner. We have heard the Auditor-General say that his Office is not properly empowered. It is not properly financed to be able to undertake audit of the devolved governments. We have heard people say that we should give more funds to the devolved units. If we do not give the Office of the Auditor-General more powers, and look at how it is structured and the quality of its employees, we will endanger the funds that we labour for. At the end of it all, we may have a balanced inflow and an outflow, and a zero-end game. Therefore, we should pass this Bill with amendments, as suggested by some of the hon. Members who have spoken on it. We should know that we are doing it for posterity; let us ensure that public funds are put into good use. The passage of this Bill should serve as a warning to those who may want to engage in corrupt deals and misappropriate public funds. We are going to have better audit of public funds in this country. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I conclude, allow me to give my belated condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the late hon. Muchai and join my friends and colleagues in saying that the Government should speed up investigations. Allow me to also lament the laxity in provision of security, especially for Members of Parliament. I have been an MP for two years now. I have been having my bodyguard but I have never heard him say that he was going for any training or sensitization on how he 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."
}