Members of the County Assembly have passed the budget which will guide spending for the 2022/23 fiscal year. This comes at a time the Assembly adjourned sine die meaning oversight of the passed budget estimates will be overseen by the third Assembly which will come in place after the August 9 elections. Speaking during the morning plenerary session, Speaker of the County Assembly Hon. Anthony Gathumbi thanked members for the support noting that alot had been achieved by the second Assembly. He said that Construction of Ward offices, renovation of the Assembly Chambers and passage of critical bills were among many of the achievements the second Assembly will be remembered for. Budget Chair and Baragwi Ward MCA Hon. David Mathenge urged the incoming Government to take with seriousness the recommendations of the Assembly while implementing the budget. His sentiments were supported by Tebere Ward MCA Hon. Gudson Muchina who urged the incoming Government to finance operationalization of the recently formed Wang’uru Municipality.Members have adopted a raft of changes to engage with the County Executive Ministers with strict time lines on queries raised on the Floor of the House. The Assembly has introduced a Question and replies session in the latest amendment to the Standing Orders which stipulates that the County Executive Committee Members (CEC)s must reply to Questions regarding their dockets within 30 days of referral.In a sitting Chaired by Speaker Hon. Anthony Gathumbi, the Assembly however said a query certified as urgent shall be replied to within seven days in a departure from the current dispensation where CECs were at liberty to reply after unspecified time.The proposed changes will ensure MCAs engage with CECs in a structured way where the latter will be required to attend Committee sittings to shed light on various issues that are not satisfactorily replied to in written responses.The MCAs too will be required to be present in the Chamber during the question time designated for every Wednesday failure to which the said question will be dropped.” Where the Member scheduled to raise a question is absent without the Speaker’s permission, the question shall be dropped and no further proceedings shall be allowed on the question during the same session” reads Standing Order 39 B(6).Ordinary session begins the second Monday of February to the first Wednesday of December except the session commencing after a General Elections.The current Standing Orders only provide for statement requests which have always taken longer time to be replied to regarding the implementation of projects and programs.The Standing Orders which will take effect in the next County Assembly after the August General Elections, will also allow Mmebers to react to speech made in the Chamber by a visiting dignitary including the Senator.While moving the amendments as contained in the Report of the Rules and Procedure Committe, the Deputy Speaker Hon. Joel Wagura noted that the changes will usher in a new era where the oversight role of the Assembly has been made easier.