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{
    "id": 893888,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/893888/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13156,
        "legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
        "slug": "mutula-kilonzo-jnr"
    },
    "content": "get quarterly – I have the one for the first quarter of 2018 – is two pages of a summary of how the budget implementation is being done. However, we, Senators, would be in a position to know some funds were allocation to Mbagathi Hospital by Nairobi County as Sen. Sakaja was asking, but they were unable to spend because of this and that. This is because County Executive Committee (CEC) member for finance is supposed to do so under Sections 163, 164, 165 and 166 of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act. In case of Tharaka Nithi County, for example, the Chair will not need to ask the question when you go to a meeting in Chuka because he will have the report. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. M. Kajwang' and I, went to National Conference of State Legislatures ( NCSL) on something we call legislative audit. I have severally asked this question; why do we have a Parliamentary Budget Office, yet we do not have a Parliamentary Audit Office? This Senate should be having auditors that we can send to Nairobi City County by virtue of a decision we have made to give us a special audit. Now, in the case of Nairobi City County, we rely on the Committee to sit in a meeting and ask for a special audit. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you are aware I sat in a Committee that was dealing with non-banking of money collected by Narok County from Maasai Mara Game Reserve for seven months. We ended up in a quagmire because we did not have the expertise. We had to rely on the Auditor-General. When they came to us, they whitewashed the whole issue. The governor then brought the report. He said they had forgotten to tell the Auditor-General that they changed their bank accounts and that they were banking money in another account. That is what happened. If this Senate had a Parliamentary Budget Office, we would have legal expertise. Yesterday, Sen. Sakaja challenged me here about how to use the funds that we have been given for audit. I have said that even if we offer all Senators whatever they want, including a car and everything, until the time we have expertise on audit, my dear colleagues, we can only do what is called politics of audit. We will go, look around and say: “This hospital does not look as if it was constructed using Kshs18 million.” At what point will we say it should have been Kshs3 million, Kshs4 million or Kshs10 million? Unless you have an auditor in your meeting and unless you can compel your county to give you documents, how are we going to do our oversight? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, little wonder that this Bill is proposed by a Member of the CPAIC. Sen. Olekina is as frustrated like I am. He seats in the Committee where we rely on them entirely, to put somebody in jail."
}