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{
    "id": 924607,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/924607/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 484,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "budget? The Controller of Budget has done an excellent job in the 7 or 8 years she has been in office. However, there is one thing she was unable to do, that is to automate the process of approvals. This a task that whoever will be succeeding her should undertake with urgency. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have seen very weak internal controls and governance systems in counties. For example, county budget and economic forum, when we were with Garissa County yesterday, it emerged that even governors do not know who should sit on county budget forums. Many counties may have them on paper, but they are not functional. A county budget and economic forum, is chaired by the governor. It has all its Chief Executive Committee (CEC) members. It should have an equal number of persons representing diverse interests from the county. You find some counties saying that they advertised for members of the budget forum and no one applied. Yet half of the composition of that forum are people who are already in office. We need to make it mandatory that counties without budget and economic fora suffer certain consequences. Audit Committees are also not in place. It is sad even internal audit functions are not functional in most counties. Information Communication Technology (ICT) control and governance is weak. Disaster and Contingence Planning is virtually non-existent. Treasury has the responsibility of developing comprehensive guidelines on governance and internal controls. These are more of managerial tools, they are not things that are effected through regulation or through statute. We have recommended here that Treasury should take the lead. When it comes to Human Resource Management, county wage bills are at an average of 40 per cent across counties. This is against the 35 per cent threshold in the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act. County Public Service Boards (CPSBs) and County Assembly Service Boards (CASBs) are notorious for breaches of the County Government Act. The Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) system is not used for salaries in all cases. Six years down the line, some counties are still paying manually using excel worksheets. Temporary workers are employed unprocedurally. I believe that Senate should come up with legislation that will help counties manage some of these weaknesses in human resource. Some Members in this House have previously proposed that we probably need to come up with a county service commission that then manages all these HR issues at counties and allows workers to move from Siaya to Narok or Kajiado counties, unlike the case now where workers operate in silence. Once you are employed to work in Tharaka- Nithi County, then you live and die in Tharaka-Nithi unless you quit your job and apply for another one. With regard to the weak oversight by county assemblies, we need to develop the capacity of county assemblies. This is because they have not established functional oversight Committees. There is also the question of allocation to county assemblies. The regulations require that we allocate 7 per cent or county assemblies be given not more than 7 per cent of the county revenue. Through the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA), we have 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."
}