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{
    "id": 1096414,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1096414/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 260,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mwea, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Josphat Kabinga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13441,
        "legal_name": "Josphat Kabinga Wachira",
        "slug": "josphat-kabinga-wachira-2"
    },
    "content": "its meetings and operations. Under the current Act, with nine board members, the Authority is supposed to raise seven members to form a quorum. That could be a tall order at times, especially at this time when we are talking about the challenges of COVID-19 and other pandemics that bedevil this country. Therefore, reducing that number to five is a necessary amendment. I also commend the drafters of the amendment Bill for ensuring that there is greater consultation in the entire management of water use. As it is now, decisions are being made by the Water Resources Authority or any other concerned authority without deeper consultations. It is for the same reason that we have the current water use fees as Kshs3,000 per acre. That becomes a heavy burden on a farmer who is not subsidised in his farming, whose inputs have very high rates, who is more often than not affected by poor infrastructure and who would occasionally be infested by what we call Quelea birds and snails that consume rice worth about Kshs250 million every season. The farmer is overburdened. If we have other costs like the water use costs without proper consultation, the farmer ends up being the one to suffer. It is also important that we amend the current Act to ensure that the National Irrigation Authority is anchored in the department that is concerned with irrigation. As it is now, when Government shifts irrigation from one area to another like from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, you find that the National Irrigation Authority is in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries while irrigation is in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation or vice versa. That causes a lot of confusion. When we amend the Act to ensure that we know where the National Irrigation Authority will be regardless of any changes within the Ministries, that will be a good thing for us. The other issue is extending the responsibilities of the National Irrigation Authority to include some regulation. As it is now, many of its responsibilities are only in management. The National Irrigation Authority should lessen its burden on management and increase on regulation so that, once an irrigation scheme is fully grown, its management should be left to the scheme management committee as opposed to the Authority itself. That would be another good thing for this country. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those good amendments, I will also be proposing some amendments during the Committee of the whole House to ensure that we increase the efficiency of the Authority. Having created an authority in the name of the National Irrigation Authority, its leader is still referred to as a Chief Executive Officer. In line with other authorities like the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and others, it is high time we changed that position from that of a CEO to a Director-General to give room to other levels of management to also assume the position of director. Therefore, I will be coming up with that amendment. I am also looking at aligning the term of the Director-General with that of other authorities by changing it from three to five years, so that the person can feel secure and provide the necessary services as other authorities in this country. The other thing that we will be looking at is the strategic framework of irrigation by the Ministry. We will align it with the Authority so that the period under which the two strategic visions are managed can be harmonised. In addition to that, I will be looking for a long-term solution to the issue of rice production and marketing in this country. It is still not catered for in the Irrigation Bill. We need a stand-alone Bill for rice and any other commodity so that production and marketing can be domiciled in one area. As it is now, we have many players. We have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade looking at the marketing. We have the Ministry of Agriculture looking at the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}