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{
    "id": 924587,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/924587/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 464,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "It is our view - we have expressed it in the past - that we either expand the mandate of the Parliamentary Budget Office to cover parliamentary audit and scrutiny, or establish another body that could be referred to as a parliamentary audit office to do the same. It will consist of a team of technicians and analysts that will support the work of the oversight Committees of this House. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to highlight some of the risks that have been identified in that Report. In the first three years of devolution, counties were generally not complying with the laws. The laws that were breached included- (i) The Public Financial Management (PFM) Act and Regulations; (ii) The County Governments Act; (iii) Tax laws; (iv) The Public procurement Act; (v) The Public Audit Act; and, (vi) The Constitution of Kenya. I wish to bring to the attention to the House a situation that we will need to pronounce ourselves on and find a way of managing. The National Treasury has been in the habit of issuing circulars, some of which have the effect of reversing legislation. For example, there is a circular in use by counties that allows them to put county funds in primary and secondary schools infrastructure development. We all know that primary and secondary schools infrastructure is a preserve of the national Government. That money trickles to the grassroots through the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). Still, counties are putting hundreds of millions of shillings in primary and secondary schools infrastructure on the strength of a treasury that originated from the national Treasury. It would be important, as a House, to put down all the circulars that have been issued by relevant bodies, be it Treasury, the Commission on Revenue allocation or the Salaries and Remuneration Commission. We can then confirm that these circulars are not reversing statutes and regulations. We have also recommended that all county executives need to undertake some mandatory refresher training. This is because every other day this House is churning out legislation. Our experience as the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee is that, sometimes county executives are unaware of the laws that have been passed by Parliament, particularly the Senate. We also need to review existing laws to assess their impact and relevance and undertake criminal proceedings for law breakers."
}