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{
    "id": 967002,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/967002/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 161,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Alego-Usonga, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Samuel Atandi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13290,
        "legal_name": "Samuel Onunga Atandi",
        "slug": "samuel-onunga-atandi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. The Office of Controller of Budget is among the very important offices in our Constitution. It is charged with approving money from the Consolidate Fund Services. When we vetted Dr. Nyakang’o, we were very meticulous. We went through her profile and realised she is a Civil Servant who has served this country for many years and has come out with a spotless career. When we looked at her wealth, we realised it is modest. Most civil servants who have served in the Government for many years have accumulated so much resources. But she was able to justify her wealth. We were convinced she is a Civil Servant who is not only of high integrity, but honest and will serve us well. Dr. Nyakang’o is a solid Civil Servant and you know the importance of this office. It requires somebody who is not only solid, but one who has served the country and has enormous experience. Most of my colleagues complained that her age was not suitable. When we looked at this office, we needed somebody who will not succumb to interferences from the National Treasury. You know one of the mistakes the Constitution did was to allow the National Treasury to continue being a very powerful organ of the Executive. So, we needed somebody who will not be intimidated by the National Treasury and will stand their ground when it comes to approving release of money towards the implementation of the budget. Something most people have observed about this office is that we need to empower it. This is very important. We ask Parliament to help us empower it. The Office of Controller of Budget should not only be in charge of the expenditure side of the budget, but we need it to audit and oversight revenues. You cannot be in-charge of release of funds which you do not know where they are coming from. So, we need to give the Controller of Budget powers over the revenue aspect of our budget. The nominee agreed with us that the question of pending bills in the counties and the national Government is a crisis. We needed an assurance from her that upon taking over the office, she will ensure that this question does not arise going forward. She assured us that she will be bold and ensure that resources spent will only be those that are budgeted for. Also, counties will be persuaded to work on increasing their own revenues. Counties depend entirely on revenues from the national Government. This is not working well for the country. The new Controller of Budget should work with counties to ensure that they can raise their own revenues and increase the portions they raise towards implementing their projects so that they become self-reliant in the area of revenues. The previous holder of this office had certain challenges. Some of them have been highlighted by the Leader of the Majority Party. The previous holder of the office did a very good job. There are certain areas where she failed. I still believe that Eurobond resources were stolen. The Leader of the Majority Party has said that when she appeared before Parliament, at some point she said the resources were not stolen while on another occasion she said resources were stolen. I think they were stolen. The new Controller of Budget must ensure that…"
}