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{
    "id": 932580,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/932580/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 262,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a final challenge that I had alluded to earlier is the issue of the vacancy of the Office of the Auditor-General. How I wish Members conceptualized that we have not had an Auditor-General, and there has not been any person in an acting capacity. As a result, that lacuna in the law could mean that this country could stay without a substantive Auditor-General. If the President’s appointee is rejected by Parliament, then the process has to start again. The minimum duration it can take is about 52 days. This is something that we need to deal with, as legislators. Finally, there are few other matters that are of concern to county governments, that may be taken up for further consideration by Standing Committees of the Senate. During its engagement with county governments, the Committee observed the following- One, weak human resources systems in county governments - Most county governments have gone beyond the fiscal prudence threshold of 35 per cent of total revenue which goes into emoluments and salaries. Two, we have also seen systemic weakness in County Public Service Boards (CPSBs), which frustrate any effort to professionalize or streamline Human Resource (HR) matters and operations in the county governments. The committee observed that since the Capacity Assessment and Rationalization in the Public Service (CARPS) Report was concluded, no county government has fully implemented it. We recommend that the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations takes up the matter, with a view to ensuring that the CARPs Report is fully implemented. There is a National Conference on the Wage Bill happening, but I doubt whether the Senate has been invited or is involved. This is because many-a-times when national conferences are held, the guns are trained on county governments. When we have a national conference on pending bills, the culprit is made to be the county governments, yet it is the national Government which withholds funds. When it comes to the wage bill, we focus on county governments and forget the national Government. I hope that the Chairperson of the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations will find space within those deliberations and convey the concerns of the Senate. Finally, regarding pending bills of county governments, the Committee held a meeting with the Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget (CoB) before they left office. The Committee, in its deliberations and interrogations of governors, has put the question to close to 20 governors on their level of agreement on the Special Audit Report that was tabled by the Auditor-General before this House. There is a Motion that the Committee has prepared to be brought before this House which will capture its resolutions on that particular matter. I have been made to understand that the Notice of Motion might come up tomorrow. I just want to report that the CPAIC has been seized of that matter. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}