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{
    "id": 925900,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/925900/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 549,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Farhiya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13179,
        "legal_name": "Farhiya Ali Haji",
        "slug": "farhiya-ali-haji"
    },
    "content": "there is legislation on internal audit within counties but the counties are not implementing that legislation. Having internal auditors in the counties is not good enough. We should have a committee that is independent of the governor to look at the reports produced by the county government. That committee can take their report to the Members of the County Assembly or they can even work with the Auditor General. In accounting standards, auditors can rely on the report of the internal auditors. The Controller of Budget should play a greater role as compared to what she is doing at the moment. If the Controller of Budget is the one who approves all the expenses, why are we being told that money has been withdrawn from the Exchequer to make irregular payments? How does that arise? The governors are running the county governments like their own shops. They take what they want whenever they please. This House must pronounce itself in order to protect devolution. The National Assembly recently said that counties squander money, hence they should not be given money. If that squandering continues, people will look at the county governments differently. The Committee that is supposed to oversight county public accounts and investments should be vigilant if we are to take care of the counties and their government. I am happy that the High Court has pronounced that the governors should stay out of office when they are charged. That is a game changer because they interfere with evidence if they continue staying in office. Accountants and auditors are trained the same way and that makes it difficult for the auditors to catch them because the accountant knows what the auditor is looking for. An accountant can hide evidence and they can produce all the documents required by the auditors which make it difficult for the auditors to detect anything. Therefore, the Auditor General should have a different approach. Instead of looking at the documents, the Auditor General should check the projects. If the governor says that they have built a particular hospital, the auditors should verify that fact by visiting the site. Verifying the projects alone is not enough. The auditors should go a step further and get the satellite coordinates of those projects to avoid duplication. If we do not put such kind of measures in place, we will be doing a disservice to the county governments. I support this Report and I urge this Committee to be steadfast in ensuring that corrupt governors do not get away with their acts. As Senators, we are paid by tax-payers and we swore to respect the rule of law and we should make sure that governors also respect the rule of law. If time allows us, I will explain how wages have been skyrocketing yet there is a legislation that caps the wage bill. The governors continue to violate those laws and we are doing nothing about it. This House must pronounce itself so as to protect the Wanjikus, Halimas, Onyangos and all Kenyans. We have to ensure that the counties deliver to the citizens. Money sent to the counties is supposed to be used for the good of mwananchi and not for hiring choppers. We must have value for money in our counties. A lot more needs to be done for us to have accountable governments in our counties. Thank you."
}