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{
    "id": 938590,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/938590/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 99,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13199,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Kiio Wambua",
        "slug": "enoch-kiio-wambua"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity to comment on this Statement by the Senator for Wajir. The devolution dream in this country is slowly but surely becoming a nightmare, especially on account of pending bills. The law is very clear on how contracts and tenders should be issued in counties and in the national Government. There is no way that accounting officers would continue to issue tenders to business people in the counties, yet they have not ring fenced the monies for payment to those contractors once the jobs are done. Last year, this House was told that the pending bills had accumulated to the tune of Kshs100 billion in the counties. A few months after that Statement was made, the President issued a directive that all genuine pending bills must be cleared before the end of the last Financial Year. This Financial Year, we are being told that pending bills in counties amount to almost Kshs120 billion, which is absurd. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it will be remembered that I sought a Statement on the Floor of this House concerning pending bills in Kitui County. The Speaker gave a directive, that within 30 days, the Committee on Finance and Budget was to deal with that matter and get back to this House on the status of pending bills. However, more than six months down the line, that response has not come back. The people sitting in counties and committing counties to pending bills must take responsibility for wastage of public resources. This is because very soon, very few people will be willing to get contracts and tenders to work in counties because no one is sure when or whether they will actually be paid. I, therefore, urge that as the Committee looks into this matter, they should also look into matters in other counties, including Kitui, because we have that Statement. They should act in a manner that will express intention to ease the suffering of business people across this country. As I conclude, I suggest that because every Senator in this House has an issue with pending bills from their counties, it may serve this country right to get the concerned"
}