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{
    "id": 1490833,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1490833/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 148,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mungatana, MGH",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Besides, we have this attitude that it is only Mzungu money that will be able to save us. Therefore, people keep on talking about money from outside the country. In the meantime, there is a lot of money in Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia, which if properly structured, can be put into these water companies. Thus, we will be able to improve the infrastructure and our people will be happy to pay those reasonable bills if they are having the service. This is the problem. Nobody wants to pay water bills. Why? This is because no water flows through our taps, and the next time the water flows through our taps, they bring you a bill for all the months that the water never flowed through your tap. We had that experience in Tana River County. When the Head of State was visiting, suddenly water started flowing in the taps. It should not be that way. If the problem is investment, then we should create opportunities for people to invest in infrastructure, so that these monies can be used by management to create opportunities for our water bodies to function. Having said that, I would like to also say that the water bodies, even with the difficulties that they are experiencing, audit is showing us in this Senate that there are some water companies that are just doing the wrong things. Some of these laws are not difficult to comply with. The National Cohesion and Integration Act states that if within that county there are some majority tribes, you make sure that 30 per cent should not be occupied by one tribe alone, so that the other people can have opportunities to be employed. We have many water companies that have ignored these rules. In this report, Gusii Water and Sanitation Company (GWASCO) has been mentioned. However, the GWASCO is not alone, when they are told that 80 per cent of your employees are in contradiction of the National Cohesion and Integration Act. There are many companies, including my own county’s company the TAWASCO, where they have totally ignored the provisions of the National Cohesion and Integration Act. You will find the people who are employed are from one side. You do not find a proper mix. Small tribes that exist within the county of Tana River are not given opportunities. What are the consequences of flagrant disobedience of the law? We make recommendations in this Senate, but there are no consequences. People come and tell us they will improve and next year they come, they are the same and there are no consequences. I am asking that it is time we started thinking about tightening the laws on people who are flagrantly disobeying the law. Here, we have been told that in terms of the financial management of these companies, we have many of them that are getting unqualified opinions from the Auditor- General. Now, if the Auditor-General says that the opinion they are giving in terms of financial management of the funds that have been remitted to you is unqualified and then no consequences are visited upon them, instead, in the next meeting, they bring some documents. As the Chairman said, they generate documents and tell you we were only told our opinion was bad because we did not have this and this other document. Now we have them. The stance that the Chairperson has taken is that the documentation that has not been assessed by the Auditor-General should not be accepted by the Senate Committee. 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."
}