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{
    "id": 1372209,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1372209/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 254,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "If you tell me that decisions will be made in Nairobi, with all these bureaucracies, by the time water is distributed to Narok, a child would have finished primary school and gone to high school. Therefore, this Bill is ill-advised. We need to start thinking about the future of this nation. One thing I want us to remember is that governments and politicians come and go, but this country called Kenya must remain and will always remain. Since we have agreed to be debating issues and pass legislation that will support this nation, we must come up with amendments to the law that are future-centric. They should not be laws that enrich a few individuals. The moment you say you are going to empower--- It states that the Bill seeks to amend the Act to provide for clarity of roles between development agencies and water service provider. What clarity are you seeking there? Water service providers are based in counties. What do water agencies that you want to give so much power do? They are just busybodies. It is just people sitting down somewhere and making decisions about water in Mandera, yet they are not even in Mandera. I beseech my colleagues that we stop the debate and look at the constitutionality of this Bill because it affects our counties. We are here to protect and defend the counties. We need to start thinking about how to promote innovations and flexibility. If we take away a resource from the counties and give it to the national Government to make decisions, how then are we going to become innovative? How are we going to promote flexibility in terms of managing water resources, which are locally based? It will be difficult. People have been getting water. Instead of someone sharing water with the local community, since they may be afraid of these waterworks, they will just use that water for themselves. They will never say it, yet these waterworks do not have the powers. This issue of Private Public Partnership (PPP) must stop. It is not always the right thing. If you tell me that you are building a super highway from Nairobi to Kakamega and you are inviting PPP on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT), I will support it. However, when you tell me that you want to commercialise water, that you are bringing in a private party to invest and distribute water - a resource that the county is supposed to be benefiting - I will oppose it. This is because you are actually just throwing away innovation. We keep on talking about not having jobs in this country. While these 47 heads of counties are sitting down together to discuss how do we manage this resource, we in Parliament, are now promoting clawing back on devolution. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I end by saying that local communities have a better understanding of their specific water needs. By leaving these water services as intended by the framers of the Constitution in the county governments, it will help them tailor the management of this resource to fit their needs. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I oppose this Bill entirely. Thank you."
}