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{
    "id": 842987,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/842987/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 229,
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    "content": "to do it. It is more like the people who go to church on Sunday simply because it is an expectation upon them. They need to go to church. We all know that despite us passing this Cash Disbursement Schedule, Treasury still gives out monies to counties when they want. They give how much they want. It is an issue that has intrigued the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC) because every time a governor appears before us, there is the complaint that they are not getting money and on time. Madam Temporary Speaker, you are aware that the debt in counties is close to Kshs100 billion. This cash disbursement schedule is for Kshs314 billion. That means that 30 per cent of the revenue of our counties will have to go to paying debt. We are making serious comments about the national debt status. We need to spend some time to consider the county debt status. This is because the Kshs100 billion that we are calling pending bills is debt that will have to be paid. The law says that it will have to be a fixed charge on our public expenses. We have attempted to interrogate why counties complain that they do not have money and yet Treasury so regularly publishes notices in the newspapers saying that they have given money to counties. Who is fooling who? We have seen counties where workers are on strike. Workers of the Homa Bay County Assembly have not been paid while those of the county executive were paid only two weeks ago. Yet, Treasury says they have sent all the money to the county. Either Treasury is setting up our counties or our counties are not doing the right job. Madam Temporary Speaker, in that interrogation, we established a few things. One is the budget making process. Counties delay to conclude their appropriation process and the budget because of the internal strife or competition between the executive and the assembly. Notwithstanding this Cash Disbursement Schedule, if a county has not concluded its budget making process, Treasury shall not disburse. That is something hon. Members need to understand. Yes, we have said that cash shall be disbursed on a certain date and manner on a monthly basis. However, counties, the Treasuries and the county assemblies must also complete their bit when it comes to the budget making process. We have seen counties that have been surviving on Section 9 of the PFM Act that allows them to run, but only on the basis of recurrent expenditure. No development can occur because the executive and the assembly have failed to agree on the budget process. Madam Temporary Speaker, even when the county concludes the budget process and we have the Appropriations act, a budget, the County Annual Development Plan (CADP) and the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), there is another process of uploading the budget at the Treasury. This might sound operational, but it is a serious problem to counties. When counties have to upload their budgets into the system, they have to travel to Nairobi. This is because it has to be done at the Treasury. This is done county by county. The experience that governors have shared with us is that if you want your county’s budget to be uploaded quickly, then send some people to‘lobby’ at the Treasury. We have asked what they mean by the word “lobby”. There are those who are politically-correct who say that it means smiling and just being around. However, it appears that money is changing hands for counties to get their budgets uploaded into the system. This is a system that 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."
}