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{
    "id": 842506,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/842506/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 124,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Speaker. I thank the Committee that is ably led by my good friend, Sen. M. Kajwang’, who went to a very good school, for the work they have been putting in. We have complained severally on the Floor of this House about the backlog of these reports. Our primary role is oversight and we needed to get the understanding of what is happening in your Committee. We have made several suggestions. I sympathise with the Senator for Nakuru County right now, because this is the Audit Report of the Executive of Nakuru County for the Financial Year 2013/2014. She is, therefore, oversighting the previous governor, Gov. Mbugua, yet the people of Nakuru know that they have sent her to the Senate to oversight the county governments and the current governor, Gov. Lee Kinyanjui. Madam Temporary Speaker, I would not be interested much, apart from looking at the systems issues and procedural challenges in the Report for Nairobi City County. This is because the people of Nairobi County want me to do oversight, which is my role, on the current county government. We have even suggested in this House that to help the Committee – and many Members are committed to that - that all the 67 Senators should split ourselves for a period and take up some of these reports, so that we do it together, under the guidance--- We can reduce this backlog if the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee, led by Sen. M. Kajwang’, could give one Member to lead each of the other nine Committees. There are Senators in this House who might never have an opportunity to actually go through the report of the current governors. I know the Committee is hesitant or might not want that to be done. However, it is because when the Committee sits, it does so on behalf of the rest of us. Actually, the Committee sits to make the work of the rest of the House easier. In this respect, it might be the other way round. I ask the Committee to be open. I am glad that they are now proposing to bring consolidated reports and that makes a lot of sense. It is not necessary for every county to have its report. A consolidated report would be good, regionally or whichever way. Moreover, the Committee needs to understand that the way they look at the reports of the Auditor-General cannot be the same thing the county assemblies look for in the Auditor-General’s reports. If that is the case, then we are duplicating roles and might be wasting our time. We should know what secondary oversight requires of us such that the issues that are looked at as a Senate County Public Accounts and Investements Committee (CPAIC) must be different and at a higher level than what we expect from the County Assembly Public Accounts Committee on the same issue. Madam Temporary Speaker, Senators have spoken about the challenge that many of these counties faced when they began at that time. Many counties are facing similar challenges. I have previously asked - and maybe it is because the Committee might be overwhelmed - I made a request for a Statement last year and asked for an audit of revenue collection of the Nairobi City County. That audit was not done because we were not able to communicate with the Auditor-General. 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."
}