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{
    "id": 724422,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/724422/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 120,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wamunyinyi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 291,
        "legal_name": "Athanas Misiko Wafula Wamunyinyi",
        "slug": "athanas-wamunyinyi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker for giving me a chance to also contribute on this Report by the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade on the Vetting of Nominee for Appointment as Chairperson of CRA. From the outset, I would like to thank this Committee for the good work it has done not just in the vetting and the Report, but even for their previous work. I also want to stress the fact that Parliament plays an important role. Actually, we share the power to appoint various personalities to various positions as provided for in our statute. Previously, we did not have a say on any appointments but now even presidential nominees must be approved by Parliament after going through the requisite vetting by a relevant Committee of Parliament. This is a very important activity for us and it avails us an opportunity to get people with the best records, academic qualifications and experience. It also avails us an opportunity to get people who meet all the requirements of integrity. This function is very important because it not only allows us to share power with the President but it also ensures that we get the best people for various positions in our country. I want to thank the Committee for having done a good job and coming up with a recommendation of Dr. Jane for appointment to this position. When Parliament undertakes the role of public participation it does it for the public. We recently witnessed a case where some members of the Executive were proposing an amendment to take away the power of public participation in such appointments. This was in the Privatisation Commission. I know we pushed through an amendment to block that from happening but it will be very bad if anyone in this country wants to take us back to where we were. This was very unfortunate because if you looked at that amendment, you realised it sought to remove the role of Parliament from the appointment of Commissioners to the Privatization Commission. It even attempted to reduce the quorum of membership of this Commission for transaction of business to approve privatisation and other matters. It was, in fact, giving the Cabinet Secretary (CS) all the powers. We need to seriously protect those sections of the law and the responsibility that we have been given by the law to undertake approvals. Coming back to the approval of the Chairperson, I note that the Committee was very specific in the approval hearings. It looked at the academic qualifications of the Chairperson, her past employment record and what she has done. It also looked at the professional qualifications, other aspects of potential conflicts and knowledge that is particularly relevant to this position. The Committee was satisfied after looking at all those aspects including leadership, expectations and priorities that may have been set out as required. The Committee, therefore, came up with strong findings and it made specific observations which are key to the recommendations. It has given us some of the important and key undertakings by the nominee to this position. If you look at them, you will find that she is a very qualified person who is capable of holding this position. She has done much more than is required for a person to hold this position. As I support this Report and the recommendation of this nominee, I would like to stress two things. First, there is a need to harmonise the allocation of revenue to counties. I see the Leader of the Majority Party coming in. He is in a very happy mood. There is need to harmonise the allocation of revenue in our counties and stress the fact that county assemblies also receive revenue through county governments. It is important to separate these aspects and ensure full accountability by all devolved units, namely, county governments and county assemblies. 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."
}