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{
    "id": 697958,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/697958/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 36,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wakhungu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1889,
        "legal_name": "Chrisantus Wamalwa Wakhungu",
        "slug": "chrisantus-wamalwa-wakhungu"
    },
    "content": "Thank you Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. This is a very important Bill that is going to ensure that there is corporate governance in our State corporations. It is going to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Directors play a critical role in any institution. They provide oversight. State corporations like the Capital Markets Authority, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) are headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or a Managing Director. A CEO plays a critical role in strategic decision- making of any entity. As they come up with proposals, they have to go to the board of directors. The board of directors is supposed to look at the proposals that have been made by the management. The board of directors approves those proposals. They can only be implemented if they have been approved. That is why it is important that members of the board of directors have the capacity and the expertise that will help them to approve the decisions by the CEO. We heard about some CEOs who have had conflict of interest issues, for example, KQ. I sit in the Public Investments Committee (PIC), which is supposed to look at prudent management of the investments the public make in these parastatals and whether the public gets money. The CEOs make decisions and the board is just there to rubberstamp. This is because the board members are ignorant and do not have what it takes. Most of the time, the directors are appointed because of some political affiliations. This Bill is going to streamline those issues. If you have had a chance to look at the Mwongozo, which was brought up by the Jubilee Government to provide a framework of providing guidelines in terms of how to run public institutions - unfortunately, Mwongozo is just a policy - it does not have strength when it comes to matters of law. Right now, it is going to be a statute and it is going to have more teeth to bite in case there is going to be a problem. Accountability is important. A rogue president might come and decide to do away with Mwongozo . I have looked at Mwongozo and seen that it has very good regulations, but unfortunately, the level of implementation is a challenge. I want to mention an example of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF), where we had a chairman called Bruce Odhiambo, who dictated to the CEO what she was supposed to do. Most of the corruption that we have in this country comes from the board of directors. In some cases, the CEOs are working under duress. For example, at the YEDF, some of Bruce Odhiambo’s companies were procured to offer services in this institution. If this Institute is going to be registered, the board of directors will be trained on corporate governance. Article 226 of the Constitution is very clear in terms of financial management reporting and audits. These Reports are supposed to come to this Parliament. The PIC and the PAC are the critical committees that should look into these issues. The PAC looks at Government Ministries 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."
}