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{
"id": 1490825,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1490825/?format=api",
"text_counter": 140,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
"slug": "ledama-olekina"
},
"content": "One of the key recommendations of our committee was that each of the 47 counties have got to look at their resources, so that we can avoid non-revenue water. They should look at what they need from these regional bodies, but ultimately, work towards managing their own resources. My colleague has already elaborated clearly on the losses that each of these companies were getting. There was a lot of unaccounted for water, which came in as a result of dilapidated infrastructure because there are many leakages. So, when you come to a situation where two counties share one company and then water is bought from another company or from another county, by the time the water gets there, if you calculate how much was sold to those companies versus how much they generate after they sell the water, you will realize that there are many losses, which also led to a lot of financial mismanagement. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we are looking at the case of Nairobi City County, it was very difficult to tell how much that company was earning. In fact, some of these companies ended up being corruption dens, where people who work in these companies end up setting their side water companies and buying water bowsers, so that they can sell because mismanagement in the companies that were running water services was so high such that it was impossible to ensure sufficient water supply. This is a function of the national Government. The National Government has to ensure that there is a sufficient sustainability of water supply to all the counties. This was the first time that this Senate was looking at these water bodies. There is still a lot of work that ought to be done. Quite a lot of work. One of our recommendations was, and I do not know whether that recommendation found itself in the report, that each of the 47 county Senators must interact on a close watch with the water companies to ensure that these water companies, first of all, understand their budgets. Secondly, that the county governments allocate budgets to them. These water companies must also be run to produce enough water, which is sustainable to provide for all the citizens of these sub-counties. In addition, we also have to deal with the issue of sanitation. You will find that some companies only deal with the supply of water. However, when it comes to the issue of sewage and sanitation, it is left for programmes to be funded by the World Bank. We have to be clear that these are our responsibilities. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, today, you will understand that there is a shift on the role that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays in countries. The ruler of Burkina Faso has said no to the support of IMF. The IMF continues to rate our countries. In fact, today, a friend of mine sent me a small note and said, “this is what is important to us” because the IMF has already downgraded Kenya and portrayed a very dark future for Kenya, just because we want to control ourselves. So, this trickles down. Our water companies must be the responsibilities of the county governors, because the county governor is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of that county. If the CEO does not know how the water companies are being run in those counties, it becomes problematic. We now have a Ministry for the blue economy. It is important that those water companies and that Ministry work together to set up huge dams and ensure that we have reservoirs. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}