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{
    "id": 1372228,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1372228/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 273,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to weigh in on the Water (Amendment) Bill. Before I either oppose or support this Bill, my biggest worry with this Bill is that we are taking away from the devolution and that we are going back to centralizing matters that have already been devolved. I refer to some of the amendments, particularly Clause 2(a) which says- “Contracting authority” means- “at the national government level, a state department, agency or state corporation which intends to have its functions undertaken by a private party;” We are basically saying that after the introduction of devolution and after devolving functions for purposes of efficiency such that the people on the county and the grassroots level are able to feel the effect of Government, we are now going back and centralize these matters. Not only are we centralizing it, but also commercializing it. I do not think the problem is water being commercialized. By commercializing this service, are we bringing the cost down? Are we ensuring that all the Kenyans in every single part of this country are receiving the water? That is the main question. Some people will say we do not want to commercialize. However, if you look at some of the things that we are dealing with under Kenya power Limited Company (KPLC), we have always pushed to have it commercialized so that we can have competition among many other players to bring down the cost of electricity. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, commercializing it is not the problem. The problem is, are we under the guise of making amendments, centralizing back powers that have been devolved and making the provision of water more expensive? When I read through this proposed Bill, I tend to have a feeling that we are trying to even move it closer to the problems such as we have at the KPLC right now. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe that on provision of basic needs such as water, we must ask ourselves whether we are amending for the interests of Kenyans or for the very few players in a commercial space. I have heard Sen. Sifuna talking about the investments that national Government and even county governments have put on infrastructure for provision of water. It takes me back to a time when we have been able to see certain individuals using Government offices to give crazy proposals to seek loans for purposes of investment of infrastructure for whatever field."
}