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{
    "id": 618935,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/618935/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 139,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "“If a Cabinet Secretary reasonably believes that an accounting officer is engaging in or has engaged in improper conduct within the meaning of subsection (4), the Cabinet Secretary shall:- (a) take such measures as may be provided in regulations; or (b) refer the matter to the relevant office or body in terms of the statutory and other conditions of appointment or employment applicable to that accounting officer.” This section empowers the appointing authority to discipline errant accounting officers which could include revoking their appointment. This provision has sealed a long standing loophole that has previously seen accounting officers continuously commit or preside over fiscal indiscipline and malpractice in their Ministries with impunity without sanctions. Hon. Speaker, PAC strongly holds the view that those provisions of the law were intended to be fully applied to give effect to the high principles in Article 201 of the Constitution stated herein above to ensure prudent and responsible use of public funds. The Committee has accordingly applied those provisions to recommend diverse disciplinary actions, investigations and surcharging of various persons found to bear responsibility for breaches of the law and/or responsible for the loss or wastage of public funds. The Committee membership is as listed in the Report. On behalf of the members of the Committee, and pursuant to Standing Order No. 199(6), it is my pleasant duty to table the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on its consideration of the Special Audit Report of the Judicial Service Commission and the Judiciary of May 2014, for deliberation and adoption by the House. In this regard, my Committee thanks your office and the Office of the Clerk and wishes to extend its most sincere gratitude to the services offered by our technical staff. Hon. Speaker, the Committee was seized of the matter following a public altercation between the Chief Justice, Hon. (Dr.) William Mutunga and the then Registrar of the Judiciary, Mrs. Gladys Boss Shollei and members of the JSC. On 17th October 2013, the Committee requested the Auditor-General to conduct a special audit on the financial transactions of the Judiciary and the JSC. The Special Audit was to cover 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 financial years. Twenty three witnesses appeared before the Committee in 10 appearances. The Committee notes that the Head of the Judiciary, the Chief Justice, was invited to appear and shed light on matters under investigation, but failed to honour the invitation. From the evidence and testimonies of those who appeared, the Committee made the following conclusions inter alia:- (i) The leadership of the Judiciary at the advent of the new Constitution inherited an institution with weak structures and lacked proper institutional set-up. (ii) The Judiciary failed to implement its own Judiciary Transformation Framework (JTF) 2012-2016 as a blueprint to reposition the Judiciary in line with the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and the demand for better services by the citizens. This is evidenced by the fact that two years after the framework’s policy guidelines were in existence, decisions were still centralized and the Office of the Chief Registrar and the Judicial Service Commission were not working in synergy. (iii) The budget for the Judiciary increased from Kshs3 billion in the 2010/11 Financial Year to Kshs16 billion in the Financial Year 2012/2013. Parliament’s desire to have an efficient administration of justice led to an increased budgetary allocation, but this was undermined by apparent financial mismanagement, weak internal 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."
}