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{
    "id": 773188,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/773188/?format=api",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Temporary Speaker as I rise to give my opinion on this list. First and foremost, I want to agree with Sen. (Dr.) Langat that it is important to ensure that Members are properly addressed with the titles because they do not just come like that. I mean, these titles are not just some addendums or otherwise, names that would just be found within a collegiate of a people. It is out of resilience and determination to serve the public that we acquire such entitlements. Madam Temporary Speaker, yes, indeed, these committees are important. I was privileged to serve in the Rules and Procedure Committee of the National Assembly in the Eleventh Parliament and I want to implore upon Members who have been selected to serve. This Committee has a challenge because sometimes people do not actually meet, because your work is basically to look at the Standing Orders, and it is not a lot of work. This is a Committee that may be very dormant, but we may want to find creative ways of ensuring, in the spirit of bipartisanship and a bicameral House, to look at some of the Standing Orders for review that we passed in haste sometime at the end of the last Parliament. We would then be informed by the need to ensure the smooth running of business from either of the Houses. One of the few things that I have in mind is how people can co-sponsor bills. Why do I say so? This is because if you are a Senator of a certain county or representing a certain interest, you may have the same interest with people who are from the same county or representing the same interest in the other House. Therefore, it will be important to create a mechanism where the Members co-sponsor bills. This will also help the Senate with regard to the issue of money bills, because this House does not generate money bills. The issue of money bills is a big contestation because, for instance, what is a money bill in terms of the wording in the proposed legislation? So it is something that you may want to look at, over and above the other challenges that we face. This includes even what has been alluded to before, about membership of certain committees that have a lot of backlog of activities, such as the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee. Madam Temporary Speaker, coming to the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee, we have a lot of work to do because just today in the Finance and Budget Committee, of which I am privileged to serve as the vice chairman, we could clearly see that there are serious issues of basic auditing with regard to even people having the right imprests and proper documentation. On one hand, it could just be a case of carelessness, for example, not having a proper paper trail; which means that Kenyans are losing money and value for money in that regard. But it could also just be a question of capacity, because you could imagine how we have just, all of a sudden, expanded from one government to 48 governments. This is something that we need to look at. Why am I saying so? It is because the world is not now concerned with this basic financial statement audits. People have moved to what we call performance evaluation, where they look at problematic aspects. Are Kenyans getting value for money? Are projects being implemented or are they just being documented for the sake of supporting certain expenditure? That is the case. If you travel around the country you will see that the amount of money that was spent on projects is not commensurate with what is on the ground. Those are some of the issues. The developed countries - a term that I find a bit 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"
}