{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=144443","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=144441","results":[{"id":1462612,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462612/?format=json","text_counter":181,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Olekina","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":407,"legal_name":"Ledama Olekina","slug":"ledama-olekina"},"content":"I cannot sit in this Senate if these counties cannot respect it. What are we doing here then? Senate Majority Leader, can we please move? This is your House and your Motions have to be respected. We have a bunch of lawyers here, including Sen. Chimera, who instead of taking us to court to try and stop us from getting---"},{"id":1462613,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462613/?format=json","text_counter":182,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Kingi","speaker_title":"The Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Sen. Omtatah, proceed."},{"id":1462614,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462614/?format=json","text_counter":183,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Okiya Omtatah","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would like to contribute to the Motion on pending bills. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only.A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services,Senate."},{"id":1462615,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462615/?format=json","text_counter":184,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Okiya Omtatah","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"These pending bills have basically morphed into a form of borrowing by county governments because they are given budgets. However, for some reason, they end up with pending bills, which then again have to come back to the public to be financed. Borrowing by counties is regulated by the Constitution in Article 212. It says:"},{"id":1462616,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462616/?format=json","text_counter":185,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Okiya Omtatah","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"“A county government may only borrow if the national Government guarantees the loan and with the approval of the county government's assembly.”"},{"id":1462617,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462617/?format=json","text_counter":186,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Okiya Omtatah","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"You find that these pending bills are creations of the Executive who refuse to operate within their budgets and manipulate the issuing system by voiding what has been approved and diverting money. I think governors who were in office when these pending bills were created should not go scot-free. Their fate must be held to the fire and they must tell us why they are creating a public debt contrary to the Constitution. The people of Kenya are being forced to pay for what they should have sorted out using supplementary budgets and similar stuff."},{"id":1462618,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462618/?format=json","text_counter":187,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"[The Speaker (Hon. Kingi) left the Chair]"},{"id":1462619,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462619/?format=json","text_counter":188,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Veronica Maina) in the Chair]"},{"id":1462620,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462620/?format=json","text_counter":189,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Okiya Omtatah","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"As we go forward in terms of settling pending bills and to dissuade this culture from continuing, I urge that the consideration of this statement go as far as making recommendations on how to handle rogue governors, who end up using their procurement powers within budgets approved by the CoB to create pending bills. If they do not pay bills, they must face the music. They should not come back to the public to go and pay pending bills. We cannot be crying here about pending bills when the Constitution is very clear on how we should incur public debt. Backdoor public debt should not be paid. It is not a sovereign debt, but it is a regime debt. If the public pays it, the regime owners must be held to account. This thing of handling the pending bills issue with kid’s gloves will not solve it unless we punish individual governors. Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker."},{"id":1462621,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462621/?format=json","text_counter":190,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Veronica Maina","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Sen. Karen Nyamu proceed."}]}