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{
    "id": 74317,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/74317/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 309,
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    "content": "that they would get away with them as they have done in the past and did not even waste time in admitting the irregularities before the Committee or even bothering to apologise. Key among the irregularities was incurring expenditure contrary to Government Financial Regulations and Procedures. The Committee also observed that some accounting officers either willfully or negligently failed to enforce clear Government Financial Regulations and Procedures particularly on imprest, culminating in huge outstanding imprest. The Committee attributed the impunity and lack of physical discipline to lack of clear legal framework for disciplining accounting officers by the appointing authority. According to the Permanent Secretary, Treasury, the current Government Financial Management Act was under review and he would be proposing radical changes that would give him powers to sanction and terminate appointment of errant accounting officers, thereby improving financial accountability. As a result of this, we have recommended as follows: Accounting officers should at all times, exercise prudent financial management to ensure that public funds are well spent and value for money is realized. The Permanent Secretary Treasury, should move with quick speed in ensuring that the Government Financial Management Act is reviewed to ensure improved physical management and that he should particularly ensure that the Act gives him powers to sanction and terminate appointments of inept and errant accounting officers if impunity is to be rooted out in our Ministries and the Government in general. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we made the following observations on the statement of public debts. According to the Permanent Secretary Treasury, the public debt stood at Kshs1.2 trillion by May 2010 compared to only Kshs744 billion as at June 2007. Out of this Kshs1.2 trillion, 60 per cent constituted domestic borrowing while 40 per cent was foreign and the increased borrowing was in line with the country’s development agenda as envisaged in Vision 2030. Domestic borrowing had surpassed external borrowing within the last one year and a huge junk of the borrowing was for infrastructural development. The Committee observed that while there were adequate control measures on external borrowing particularly through Parliamentary oversight to guard against abuse, such was not the case with domestic. The Committee was concerned that the Government of the day could at one time unilaterally and clandestinely borrow domestically, thereby abusing the facility and causing the public to pay dearly. Unless sufficient checks and balances are put in place, the public interest will not be---"
}