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{
    "id": 551026,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/551026/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 212,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I also rise to lend my voice to this very important Bill. When this Bill was originally considered by the National Assembly, it had several provisions which were deemed to be not in compliance with the Constitution. Looking at this Bill as passed by the National Assembly, it is an improved version of the Bill that was originally tabled. The matter does not end there. It should be understood by this House that one of the most important tools that Parliament uses in performing its functions under the Constitution which includes oversight is the office of the Auditor-General. If the office of the Auditor-General is not functioning properly and effectively, then it would be lost to Parliament on how to perform its oversight functions. Over the years, the Executive made attempts to undermine the constitutional authority of that office and by extension Parliament by ensuring that this office was emasculated and therefore, its effectiveness as per the Constitution was not in conformity with the Constitution itself. This is in terms of timelines, reporting and such like requirements. Madam Temporary Speaker, unless we look at some of the provisions which are contained in this Bill, we may think we are doing a great job by passing this Bill but there are provisions in this Bill, in my view, that would actually bring that office into a situation where they will have to comply with whatever the Executive requires. My starting point is that the Constitution itself requires that Parliament must give adequate funds to independent offices including the office of the Auditor-General. It is a constitutional obligation that in the performance, duties and functions of the office of the Auditor-General, parliament itself must determine that it has given adequate funds for the office of the Auditor-General to function. If you look at this Bill generally and I do not want to go into specific provisions because that would take a lot of time, it would seem to suggest that the function is probably left to the Auditor-General himself and to Treasury to eventually make a determination whether or not funds are being given according to estimates. Even if the funds are not adequate, there is no obligation by Parliament to make sure that the funding is adequate. Therefore, I would urge this Parliament, including the Senate, that this being such an important office, whenever we are confronted with estimates regarding the Republic of Kenya and its departments, we better be on the look out to determine whether we have indeed given that office adequate funds. There are provisions in this Bill that if you look at them carefully, they claw back on the provisions of the Constitution that require this office to be independent. What I have in mind is that there is a body established under this Bill, in Part III, Clause 4 of what is called “the establishment of the Audit Advisory Board”. You can see in that clause that some of the offices represented in that board include the office of the Attorney-General which is part of the Executive. I wonder whether by extension and by use of this particular mechanism, the office of the Auditor- General will be represented in the office of the Attorney-General or the office of the Director of Public Prosecution. The other public body that is required to be part of the membership of that board is the chairperson of the Public Service Commission. This is a commission that is also 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."
}