Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 693343,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/693343/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 222,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "should approve what they have proposed. The only rider when it comes to the budget making process and the power conferred on the assembly by the Constitution is to ensure that the approval is done in line with Article 201 of the Constitution. Recently, I know there were guidelines that were set out that you can only adjust to the extent of one per cent. That is back door way of taking away the legislative authority and independence of the assembly. The assembly approved the estimates, forwarded them to the executive with amendments. What was done, instead of forwarding the Appropriation Bill, a purported memorandum was sent detailing protest and things that the office of the governor felt they were unhappy about. Nothing was done. The Bill was not initiated. Now, there is a stalemate engineered by the executive and blamed on the assembly. The assembly cannot be blamed for discharging their mandate under the Constitution and under the County Governments Act in as far as the budget making process is concerned. The executive failed to initiate the Appropriation Bill and say we have a stalemate; we do not have resources to implement. Then who has caused that state of affairs? It is the executive headed by the county governor. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the frustration that we are talking about in as far as the legislative function of the assembly is concerned, is because until today, we do not have the Appropriation Bill sent by the executive to the assembly for consideration. Without that, there cannot be any appropriation. That is a gross dereliction of duty. What should have happened is for that Bill to be initiated. If the governor is unhappy with the recommendation of the assembly after the Appropriation Bill has been sent, then he would send a memorandum. Now, we have a memorandum that has been sent even before the Appropriation Bill has been sent. Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is a frustration of the legislative function of the assembly. There has also been failure to accent to Bills; again, a gross violation of Section 30 (2) (g) of the County Governments Act, 2012. I want to bring this into perspective. When I heard the opening statement, there was this submission that a Bill can self-assent itself. But it is important for us to appreciate this very sacrosanct obligation on the part of the Governor to assent. If it was the intention of Parliament when it was passing that Act, to have a Bill self-assent itself, then it would have done away with the obligation of the President or the Governor, in this case, to assent to a Bill. We have more or less seven Bills: The Nyeri County Co-operative Societies Bill, the County Tea Cess Bill and many more. They have been forwarded to the Governor and they have not been assented to. The Governor is not even concerned that there is a requirement under Section 24 of the County Governments Act to at least send memorandum detailing that, probably, I have concerns with section one, two, and three or with the entirety of this Bill. Nothing is done. You will notice that the requirement to assent is mandatory. So, he does not assent; neither does he register his protest with that Bill by sending a memorandum. That frustrates the legislative agenda because it shows you the attitude of the Governor towards that legislative function of the Assembly. It really does not matter, because, at the end of the day, it will self-assent itself. You will realize the implementation of this Bill is vested on the Executive so the moment the Governor does not assent or return a memorandum, it means that the implementation of that Bill is almost zero because he is not happy with it. However, he is not even polite enough to address an institution like the County Assembly and tell them this is why I have this problem. You will notice that the obligation is mandatory. Therefore, failure to assent to these Bills without any good reason at all, is a gross violation of the law under Section 24 and Section 30(2)(g) of the County Governments Act. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}