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{
    "id": 773180,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/773180/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 299,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "wish to thank the leadership of this House for retaining the same Members to this Committee. There is wisdom in having that continuity. The nine men and women that are listed to sit on the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee are dedicated and have no other desire but to ensure that there is value for money for the people who live in the counties. The new County Public Accounts and Investments Committee which I have been proposed to be a member, will have to deal with certain challenges. The issue of backlog is perhaps much more serious than we thought it was. For the 2013/2014 Financial Year, this House or plenary has only received 11 reports from the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee. Of the 11 reports, none has been adopted by the House. Basically, this House has not carried out its oversight mandate as required by the Constitution. In the 2014/2015 Financial Year of audit, the Auditor-General has submitted 47 county governments’ reports and 47 county assemblies’ reports. Of these reports, none has been tabled before this House. They are all at various stages of processing, but it is not done until a report is brought to this House and adopted by the House. What we are saying is that this House, since its formation, has not adopted and, therefore, it has not given its advice or view on the reports of the Auditor-General. Madam Temporary Speaker, this Sessional Committee which has just one year to prove itself, will have to make sure that this House is seized of the reports of the 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016 Financial Years. Right now, we should be considering the 2016/2017 Financial Year Report because the Constitution requires that this be brought within six months of the closure of a financial year. It could be because of these challenges that the Committee on Rules and Procedures in the last Senate decided to hive off consideration of Controller of Budget reports to the Finance, Commerce and Budget Committee. This used to be within the mandate of the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee, but it has now been moved to the Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud’s led Committee on Finance and Budget. I will not want to start a fight that we need to claw back this until we, as a Committee, are able and we can demonstrate to the House that we can deal with the backlog and the many issues that are before us. But, Madam Temporary Speaker, there are also other current issues that I would like to bring to the attention of the House and to the Members who have been nominated to this Committee. Pending bills now stand at Kshs92.2 billion. We sat as the Finance and Budget Committee; and County Public Accounts and Investment Committee with the Controller of Budget and the Auditor-General and we realised that pending bills have increased by more than 100 per cent in an election year. Several counties have taken measures to deal with this matter. For example, in Nairobi County, I saw the governor set up a committee comprising of the Auditor-General, Controller of Budget and various other stakeholders and I thought that was the right direction. But this House must also pronounce itself that there are certain counties where the governor is appointing his own cronies or people who report to him to give verification of pending bills. The same people who created the problem cannot be the same people we rely on to solve the problem. 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"
}