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{
"id": 1525401,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525401/?format=api",
"text_counter": 67,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
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"content": "initial claim of about Kshs3 billion. However, after auditing jointly, they came to a figure of Kshs1.8 billion. Now, of importance is that out of that Kshs1.8 that is claimed by the utility, the KPC, Kshs1.5 billion is arising out of street lighting. Now, here is a conversation that I want this Senate to help us with, especially here in Nairobi. Although this street lighting is termed as a function of the county government, this is admittedly a national security function. The Ministry of Energy themselves have agreed as much. I sat in a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, the Hon. Wandayi, and he told me that the Ministry has acknowledged that this is something that the national Government has to take up as a security function. In fact, by the time of that meeting, which was about a month and a half ago, he told me that they had already written to EPRA, so that this becomes a formal policy that county governments should not continue to pay street lighting bills. The funny thing is that although KPC acknowledges that the bulk of that bill is arising out of street lighting when you have a dispute with them, they do not switch off the street lights. This is also a tacit admission on their part that they know that it is critical for Nairobi to continue to have those streets lit. If you look at the law that exists, Section 5 and 6 of the Urban Areas and Cities Act, it is recognised that Nairobi stands in a unique position as a city of power, as a capital city of a country and also as a diplomatic hub. Although certain functions are county functions, the national Government must step in from time to time to support the workings of the county government. So, we want to continue to urge the Ministry of Energy to follow through with that promise and make sure that because this is a national security function, they help counties to settle these bills. Finally, because you limited our time, there is a conversation about Own-Source Revenue (OSR) for counties. We have a spectre here in Nairobi where the county government used to host utilities, like they would do those utility lines on the ground. Then if you had your fibre optic cables or data cables you wanted to use, you would pay the county and it was a very serious source of revenue. We have a situation where KPC says they are not supposed to pay for wayleaves in Nairobi or in other open spaces because the law says that you have to get the consent of a Cabinet Secretary. First of all, that is ridiculous. You give a county the power to levy rates and then you make those powers subject to the national Government again. Of course, the Cabinet Secretary for Energy will never allow Nairobi to levy rates for those wayleaves. However, the most critical thing is, that the KPC then takes up business that was a source of revenue for the county government and tells the service providers who are doing data connections and the others that you can put your cables on our power lines. This is essentially robbing county governments of OSR. So, since I happen to be a Member of the Energy Committee, this is a situation that I am hoping we will have a robust conversation about. Lastly, one of the things that is forgotten in the public debate is the Energy Act that restricts the collection of rates on wayleaves without the permission of the Cabinet 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."
}