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{
    "id": 941913,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/941913/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": "As much as the three arms of the Government are independent, it is the National Assembly that is charged with the sole responsibility of considering and approving the Budget Estimates that are tabled before this House. For Parliament, that budget comes to the Budget and Appropriations Committee. For the Judiciary, it goes to the Committee that Hon. Kaluma sits in. Hon. Kaluma can tell you that there is nothing that has been brought before them to vary what was approved on 30th June. In the same breadth, there is nothing that has been brought to the Budget and Appropriations Committee to vary the budget of Parliament as was approved on 30th June. This House should also pronounce itself on the question of whether the Executive can purport to, in a way, control the budgets of Parliament and the Judiciary using other tactics. It may not be lost on us that there are mechanisms within which you can vary budgets. For the Executive, it is very much within the law for the Cabinet Secretary to effect the changes he is effecting by varying the budgets in the Executive. But for Parliament and the Judiciary, until this House sits, considers and approves any variations, their budgets remain as they were. Also, because we are charged with the responsibility of overseeing the Executive, it is important that we stand our ground so that nobody takes over our mandate, as a House. If we are not careful, what we take pride in – that we are the budget-making House – may just be on paper. Therefore, we must guard that responsibility jealously. The circular that was issued by the Acting Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury remains a circular until the Supplementary Budget is tabled and passed. Having engaged with the Cabinet Secretary, I am sure that he will be tabling a Supplementary Budget as and when it is approved by the Cabinet. What is worrying is that before that is tabled; the Judiciary today are telling us that they have closed their stations in Malindi and other areas. Unless the Accounting Officer in the Judiciary is telling us that there is a way that, that circular forced her not to give money to other officers in those stations, there is no reason as to why justice should not be dispensed in Malindi and elsewhere. There are concerns. We listened to the Accounting Officer of the Judiciary. Indeed, they were very elaborate in explaining the things that they cannot, and must not do without. They The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}