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{
    "id": 708536,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/708536/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 316,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "used to access the Kshs1 billion, which was approved after quite a lot of struggle and initial rejection by the Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly. As I speak, there is Kshs1 billion for Senate oversight within the funds allocated to the Parliamentary Service Commission. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, what we have now is merely a procedural struggle of how the Senate will access the money, which is already within the provisions of the Parliamentary Service Commission. The initial regulations were made under Section 24 of the Public Finance Management Act. When the regulations were published, they were taken to the Committee on Delegated Legislation of the National Assembly. They invited us for a meeting, which we attended with the lawyers of the Commission who had helped us to draft the regulations, and they came with their own lawyers from the National Assembly. We read those regulations one by one. The only problem then, as far as the law was concerned, was that we had used the wrong enabling statute; the Public Finance Management Act. Ours was an internal fund of the Parliamentary Service Commission and not a fund in the National Treasury. Therefore, we all agreed that the regulations should be withdrawn and new ones be made under the Public Service Commission Act. We needed to change the title and the enabling provisions, which was the only thing that was found to be legally or technically wrong. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in the course of the debate between us and the Members of the National Assembly, other side issues were raised, for example, whether the Nominated Members of the Senate should benefit from this Fund. I listened to the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) when Sen. Beth Mugo was contributing and what she said was correct. Whether or not Nominated Senators should benefit from the Fund was not an issue of the National Assembly; it was an issue of the Senate. We informed them that, in our view, it would be unconstitutional for us to leave the Nominated Senators out of this Fund because they represent certain national constituencies. We also have Nominated Senators who represent the youth and persons with disabilities. They need to benefit from the Fund, so that they can also oversight the counties with regard to the constituencies which they represent in the Senate. However, it also dawned on us that some of those Members had personal interests. There are two Members from Nairobi who are very adamant on this. I have the right to name them here for the record. There was the Member for Dagoretti, hon. Simba Arati, who was opposed to the nominated Senators getting this Fund because Sen. Elachi, who is the Senate Majority Whip, has expressed interest in the same seat. He knows that if Sen. Elachi accesses this Fund, then the funds will be used to complicate the campaign in Dagoretti. The other person who opposed the regulations on the basis that nominated Senators would benefit is hon. T.J. Kajwang who represents another constituency in Nairobi. His issue was about one of the nominated Senators who usually sits sometimes where you are, has also expressed interest in that seat. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, therefore, it is these two hon. Members who drive the agenda for rejection of the rules largely for their own personal interests. We discussed with them and were able to convince Members of the Committee on Delegated Legislation of the National Assembly; that these were not sufficient grounds on which the rules could be annulled. It was agreed that once the old rules and the Public Finance 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"
}