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{
    "id": 561215,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/561215/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 221,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Musyimi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 95,
        "legal_name": "Mutava Musyimi",
        "slug": "mutava-musyimi"
    },
    "content": "2014/2015 Budget. The bulk of the increment is for the construction of the SGR amounting to Kshs130 million. My Committee noted that this was a flagship project for the Government and is also donor-funded. The National Treasury is required to present to the House a request for approval of a higher amount above the 10 per cent of the Budget for the 2014/2015 Financial Year before approval of this Second Supplementary Estimates. That request has been made in writing and we will be making a recommendation today on that matter. With respect to the Budget performance for this year that is coming to an end, as early as June this year, indications are that 71 per cent of the approved Budget has been spent. Some of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Arts, the State Department of Commerce and Tourism and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) have already exhausted their approved budgets and required additional funds through the Supplementary Budget. Conversely, other spending agencies such as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the National Treasury, Energy and Petroleum, Industrialisation and Enterprise Development and Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) have spent less than 55 per cent of their allocated budget. There are possibly three reasons for the low spending in these MDAs:- (1) low reporting of A-in-A; (2) lack of Exchequer issues; and, (3) delays in projects implementation. The National Treasury should ensure prompt release of funds to spending agencies. We also need to see actual reporting of A-in-A by the spending agencies and timely project implementation. Given the fact that the financial year is almost coming to an end and looking at the current budget performance for this financial year, it is unlikely that some of the spending agencies will be able to exhaustively spend all the additional resources being voted to them in this Supplementary Budget. We also know that on the greatest part, the Government has also spent this money and they are just coming to us as is required by the Constitution in Article 223. Some observations made by my Committee are that the Committee held fruitful deliberations, including many, with the National Treasury and various pertinent matters were raised on the proposed changes to various spending agencies. Overall, the Supplementary Two Estimates lack adequate detail which will limit oversight. My Committee noted that the National Treasury should have attached a memorandum to the Supplementary Estimates with a lot of detail. We did get communication but it was a bit skeletal. It was not padded enough. We would like to see more detail in future should this happen again. The Committee appreciated the National Treasury for presenting the Second Supplementary Budget in a programme-based format. However, it is observed that some of the spending agencies which were being allocated funds did not show a similar increase in their output and targets for the 2014/2015 Financial Year. It is, therefore, not clear how these additional resource allocations will impact on the projects and programmes being implemented or why it was necessary to allocate these funds in the first place. The Budget and Appropriations Committee observed that there were a few projects and programmes reallocated from one ministry to another in the Supplementary Estimates. For 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."
}