{"id":622789,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/622789/?format=json","text_counter":210,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Oyugi","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":444,"legal_name":"Augostinho Neto Oyugi","slug":"augostinho-neto-oyugi"},"content":"kind of expenditure and wastage that we are watching at the county governments and the various Government Ministries ought not to happen. The Controller of Budget would be having systematic Budget levels and should follow through what the various Ministries and county governments are doing. Clause 6, in my opinion, is ultimately the most important part of this Bill. It requires the Controller of Budget to give submission of reports to the National Assembly. Ordinarily, I have not seen, in my life in this Parliament, Controller of Budget reports. The reports that are anticipated here ought to be given in a quarterly manner showing the Government expenditure and how the Budgets are implemented in each quarter. If that was to be the case, then we would have a better way of questioning the various Cabinet Secretaries because half the time, we do not follow through. We do not know what is going on in the various Ministries. So, this Report would be useful for Members of Parliament in terms of their oversight role. Clause 6(c) requires the Controller of Budget to give reports on receipts of money in the Consolidated Fund and the county reserve funds. For a couple of months, this country has been debating the Eurobond scandal and people were wondering at what point, if at all, money was paid to the Consolidated Fund. If the Controller of Budget stuck to her mandate and gave frequent reports in terms of money received into the Consolidated Fund, then Treasury would not have been under any obligation to explain whether they received money or not because that report would have been carried in the Controller of Budget’s report. That is a key inclusion and one that I think is useful. Clause 11 speaks to the common seal of the Office of the Controller of Budget. However, if you look at how the Office of the Controller of Budget comes into effect under Article 228 of the Constitution, it is one that is nominated by the President and given approval by the National Assembly. However, Clause 11 anticipates that the Controller of Budget can, in his or her absence, authenticate the use of the common seal. Clause 12 moves to make it very dangerous that whatever is done by a person who does not belong to the Office of the Controller of Budget can still be considered as acts done in good faith. If we let someone else use the common seal which is the authority of the Controller of Budget in a manner that the Controller of Budget does not anticipate, the person who authoritatively should respond to the National Assembly is the office holder. People in this country are very treacherous and to give an omnibus authority for someone else, who is not the Office of the Controller of Budget, would be dangerous. That is a dangerous provision and that Clause should be deleted. Clause 13 gives the Office of the Controller of Budget authority and power to have every office submit to them budgetary issues and allocations. This is a very good provision. At the point, the Controller of Budget then has authority and cannot give excuses. A couple of months ago, we saw the Controller of Budget giving excuses to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on what happened. With the authority given to her under Clause 13, operationalising the powers that she has under Article 228, these ought to be functions that he or she should execute. Lastly, Clause 20 speaks to the fact that there ought to be regulations made in pursuance of this Act and they give the Office of the Controller of Budget leeway to make regulations. In my opinion and understanding, the functions that we ought to regulate under this Bill ought to be stipulated. We should be having a few highlights in terms of what regulations for operationalisation ought to be. Otherwise, leaving it in this way would be giving the Controller 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."}