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{
"id": 854946,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/854946/?format=api",
"text_counter": 115,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Dullo",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13125,
"legal_name": "Dullo Fatuma Adan",
"slug": "dullo-fatuma-adan"
},
"content": "If I may give an example, the County Government of Isiolo has entered into a partnership with a particular company which is a limited company by guarantee, where they are not subjected to provisions of this Bill that is being proposed. When this project came up, I really objected to it and protested because the law was not followed. In my view, this Bill will solve much of our problems because the provision is clearly pointing out the areas of concern. First, the survey is supposed to be done before entering into any partnership. However, before the survey is done, the governors pick partnership singlehandedly without subjecting them to a competitive process, and the County Government of Isiolo is a very good example. Secondly, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Bill proposes that an evaluation report must be done and be subjected to the PPP unit for purposes of ensuring credibility and financial ability of the company. Today, we have a scenario - and I know there is a petition before the Senate Committee on Health - where the Governor has entered into a partnership, the survey was done secretly without public participation, and they have prepared an agreement that was tabled before the County Assembly. When I queried and told the County Government that they cannot give them budgetary allocation, the County Assembly has gone ahead, and the executive have tabled a regulation to allow them establish a fund without consulting the national Treasury. This is taxpayers‟ money. This is a company that the people of Isiolo County do not know about. Therefore, when this Bill goes through, it will help us. Mr. Speaker Sir, I have a challenge with one of the provisions of the Bill. In the agreement between Isiolo County and the private company, the Governor has established a Special Purpose Joint Account with a private entity, which is against the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act. Out of that, the money is transferred to the company‟s account. This is “pen” theft, which I believe the Committee on Health will be able to expose; this is unacceptable because taxpayers‟ money is involved. Mr. Speaker Sir, public participation is one of the things that I feel should be amended or brought into this provision. Members of the public must know where their money is being taken to and should not be taken for a ride. The constitutional provision is very clear in terms of public participation. Today, the agreement and regulation that the County Assembly of Isiolo has passed was not published, gazetted, and subjected to public participation. This is happening in Kenya today, when we have legislation. As the Senate, we must come out and condemn this position. In one of the clauses on that particular regulation, it is proposed that the Chief Officer of Finance can appoint any person and institution to operationalize the account. This can be anybody. Even members of the public can be appointed by the Chief Officer to manage the fund for that particular purpose. This is very serious and we need to deal with it. The other aspect, Mr. Speaker, Sir, is submitting the list of the PPP contractors. This will avoid contractors being singlehandedly picked by the County Government and thus deal with the current issues we have. Again, the Bill proposes that the evaluation report once it is submitted to PPP, the PPP unit should be able to advise and tell them which contractor is valid and which one is not. In the event that the contractor does not meet the threshold, the County Government will re-advertise that position, and that is very critical. That is why I am supporting this Bill. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}