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{
    "id": 954013,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/954013/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 123,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 373,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Maalim Mahamud",
        "slug": "mohammed-mahamud"
    },
    "content": "It must be remembered that Article 10 of the Constitution provides for the national values and principles of governance that bind all State organs, State officers, public officers and all persons whenever any of them applies or interprets the Constitution, enacts, applies or interprets any law or makes or implements public policy decisions. One of these binding principles is the rule of law which is underpinned by the duty to uphold and respect the provisions of the Constitution. Any county government that purported to pass their annual budget and Appropriation Bill in the absence of the Division of Revenue Act, 2019 and the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2019 did not only flout the provisions of Article 224 of the Constitution, but also undermined the rule of law and failed to adhere to the national values and principles of governance as set out in the Constitution. It has also come to our attention that the Controller of Budget may have authorized the release of funds based on these unlawfully enacted appropriation laws by county governments. If this is the case, it behooves me to remind the Controller of Budget that all actions taken by State and public officers must be informed by the provisions of the Constitution and any relevant applicable law. In this instance, the Constitution unequivocally requires any county government to await the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill by Parliament before preparing their annual budgets and Appropriation Bill. It is, therefore, a moot point that any budget prepared by any county government before the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill is null and void and should not have formed the basis of any authorization of release of funds by the Controller of Budget. Mr. Speaker, Sir, to my great consternation and to our surprise, it has been reported in the dailies of national circulation that the National Treasury released Kshs50 Billion to counties after the assent to the Division of Revenue Bill, 2019, but before the enactment of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. While the veracity of these reports is yet to be ascertained, I would like to reiterate that the budget-making process in the devolved system of government is a two- step process. There is the vertical allocation of nationally raised revenue between the national government and county level of government and the horizontal allocation of the counties’ share of revenue between the 47 counties with an attendant approval of a Cash Disbursement Schedule under Section 17(7) of the Public Finance Management Act. The enactment of the Division of Revenue Bill is, therefore, not the final step in this process as it pertains to county governments. The enactment of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill and approval of the Cash Disbursement Schedule are indispensable steps in the process. A purported transfer of funds by the National Treasury in the absence of the County Allocation of Revenue Act and an approved cash disbursement schedule would, 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."
}