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{
    "id": 683804,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/683804/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 196,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "(1) Failure to settle bills in the year they fall distorts the financial statements for that year and adversely affects provision for the subsequent year to which they are charged. (2) Failure to settle bills in time has serious implications for suppliers and the economy in general, and portrays the Government in bad light. (3) Delayed Exchequer releases significantly contribute to pending bills and interfere with procurement plans of MDAs. Therefore, the Committee recommends as follows:- (a) Accounting Officers should institute measures to ensure that bills are always cleared within the financial year that they fall; (b) The National Treasury should ensure timely Exchequer releases to MDAs to enable them to settle bills as they fall due. This money should be ring-fenced to avoid delays in spending and reporting. (c) The Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury should prepare a status report on the work of the task force on pending bills, together with the schedule of all pending bills with comparative figures as relates to previous years of 2011/2012, 2012/2013 and submit the report to the National Assembly by 30th June 2016, failure to which he would be held accountable. (d) The seventh issue is imprest management. Review of the management of imprest for the national Government revealed imprest balances amounting to Kshs351,043,211 which ought to have been recovered or accounted for on or before 30th June 2014, but were still outstanding as at that date. The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Arts had the highest amount of outstanding imprests of Kshs135,310,107. The Committee notes that the total outstanding imprests of Kshs351,043,211 for the current year significantly reduced by Kshs282,135,447 or approximately 45 per cent from the Kshs633,178,658 reported as outstanding as at 30th June 2013. The Committee further notes that weak controls have turned imprests into soft loans by Government officers. This is a concern. The Committee recommends strict adherence to the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012 in future. All Accounting Officers are instructed to forthwith recover all outstanding imprests in total, plus interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) rate. The Committee further recommends that the National Treasury urgently develops a comprehensive imprest management system across MDAs in general and in particular, for recovery of imprests from deceased officers. (h) The eighth issue is on the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. This is a big concern. The Ministry of Devolution and Planning gets a specific mention because the Accounting Officers were completely unable or unwilling to respond to audit queries raised. After appearance before the Committee on three occasions, the Ministry requested for further rescheduling of meetings four times. The Ministry produced an asset register with items at grossly exaggerated prices all procured in the last month of the financial year which we noted was very suspicious. The Committee observes that this was the Ministry whose Budget was enhanced threefold with no absorption capacity giving room for schemes for plunder as has been witnessed in the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal. 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."
}