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{
    "id": 676940,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/676940/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A.B. Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "This Bill, as I said earlier on comes at the backdrop of the three-and-a-half years implementation matrix of county governments. This Bill wants to seal all the loopholes to make sure that prudent financial management is attained, more so as we approach the general elections. Clause 5 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 10 of the Act to enable county assemblies to request the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) for capacity building where necessary. This is very important and I have said it. When we established county assemblies, we never thought of establishing very important technical arms of the county assemblies. Today in the National Assembly we have a fully-fledged PBO, even more powerful or close in terms of technical capacity to the National Treasury. We have very strong technical offices in the name of Legislative and Legal departments. So, we must amend Section 10 of the Act so that these Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) who are subjected to budgets and Bills but have no technical capacities can get support, on request, from the PBO when and if necessary. Clause 6 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 13 of the principal Act by deleting the words “Cabinet Secretary” since a Cabinet Secretary cannot delegate duties under his or her watch to himself or herself. Basically, the role of the CS in that section is, again, defined. Clause 7 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 15 of the Act so as to restrict the provision of this section to only the national Government. There is a lot of alignment in terms of implementation of the Public Finance Management Act. Clause 9 proposes to amend Section 24 of the Act so as to provide for the role of the National Treasury in specifying the accounting procedures, systems and the role of the Auditor- General in auditing the accounts before submission to Parliament. This is in line with international best practices. Now that we have a new Public Audit Act and two levels of government, Clause 9 is amending Section 24 in order to provide a certain role for the National Treasury in specifying the accounting procedures that can be used in the national or county governments, and the role of the Auditor-General in auditing accounts of these governments. Something very peculiar is happening in the pastoral areas; auditors do not even go there. I am told I do not know how true it is that when the Auditor-General or the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) send officers to Mandera, Marsabit, Turkana, Garissa or Wajir, they are told there is a likelihood that Al Shabaab will be in the area, and so they do not go. Some county government accounts have not been audited because fear has been instilled. This is something very strange. The same auditors go and audit the national Government and the NGCDF in our constituencies, but when they are sent to a county government, they are told that there is serious likelihood of cattle rustling, Al Shabaab and highway banditry. I think that should not be the case. Clause 10 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 35 of the principal Act so as to mirror what is provided under Section 125(1)(c) of the Act. Basically, this is to facilitate the preparation of a comprehensive estimation of national Government revenue and expenditure. I am just picking the key highlights of the clauses. Clause 12 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 39 of the Act to mirror the language used under Article 222(1) of the Constitution to avoid any contradiction. Clause 13 of the Bill is 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."
}