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{
    "id": 799038,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/799038/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 263,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Dullo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13125,
        "legal_name": "Dullo Fatuma Adan",
        "slug": "dullo-fatuma-adan"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand to support this Bill. I join my colleague in congratulating my colleagues in the Committee on Finance and Budget who have done a very good job in ensuring that everything is in order. I thank the Government and this House, especially the Eleventh Parliament where I was a member of a Committee that went the whole country to make sure that five counties, including yours, benefited from the national Government allocation to enable them construct headquarters. I wish to confirm to the House that the construction of Isiolo County Headquarters is on course although it has taken a bit of time. From the onset, this House will always make sure that our counties have enough budget allocations to enable them deliver on their mandates. However, this is not our fifth year; we are going to the sixth. Despite the Government increasing budgetary allocations, especially this financial year, it is not in some areas replicating on the ground. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at the health sector, there is a huge budgetary allocation to many counties. When you go to the ground, our people are still dying due to lack of medical services. Some hospitals do not even have panadol tablets. It is very sad. This House should come up with the mechanisms to ensure funds disbursed to counties are well spent. The County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) has sat with the Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget (COB). He said that the Senate should always be informed on how the budget is implemented. It is not a matter of just sitting here and dishing out money when we do not know how it is being utilised. We, as a House, only rely on the Auditor-General’s Report way after years have passed. For example, the CPAIC is now looking at the reports of 2013/2014 Financial Year audit queries. Honestly, is that why we are here? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. Can we be on top of things? When money is released from the Government, Senators should track that the money goes from here to the county governments is utilised in the right manner and report to this House. This is completely lacking. Looking at the report that was tabled this afternoon, for example, for Isiolo County one of the comments on budget implementation from the COB is failure to establish an internal audit Committee, contrary to Section 155 of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012. This is a song we have been singing for the last five years. How can the Senate or the national Government penalise the county that does not have such structures in place? This is a question we need to ask ourselves as the Senate. I remember the other day we went with Sen. M. Kajwang’ and Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. to the United States (US) to see their Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) structures. One the things the US is doing is that if one is found responsible for any misappropriation or any act that shows that one has mismanaged finances, one is penalised and will not get a budget allocation until the offence is corrected. This House should look out and see how we can punish the counties that are not complying with financial management and regulations in this country. 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"
}