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{
    "id": 391948,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391948/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Chanzu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 11,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
        "slug": "yusuf-chanzu"
    },
    "content": "water sector. We only used to have the Ministry of Water before then but when the NARC Government came to power, we ended up having the parastatals that we see today, including the Water Trust Fund in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Mineral Resources. After that, follow-up is what has been the problem. If the policy of the Government can be that we must give water to the people; and not just politicising issues, as it happens during the campaign periods, when we talk about ensuring that every homestead gets water, it can be good. So, the most important thing is the kind of policies that we can put in place. Some of my colleagues have talked about using the CDF. In the last Parliament, the then Ministry of Water had a programme through which they wanted to create a similar arrangement but it did not work because the Executive did not want to give away some of its functions to the CDF. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, even though water services have been devolved to the counties, I still do not believe that we should be handling these matters at the county-level. Some of the counties are very big. Suppose you get a governor who decides not to help certain parts of the county, given the selfish nature of human beings? I believe that this is a function which can be handled at the constituency-level. The only problem is that even though the CDF has done a lot, it is not sufficiently funded for this purpose. So, it means introducing a lot of changes. We need to make a number of improvements in terms of allocating more money to the CDF, so that every part of the country can have money for water. If we only rely on the national Government to handle the money, there will always be the problem of money not being enough. Right now, some functions are not being carried out because there are too many mouths to feed. I believe that if we handle this at the constituency-level, it will work. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, you remember the El Nino phenomenon. We addressed those issues here. There was flooding all over and everybody, including people in Nairobi, was talking about it. Right now Nairobi looks very peaceful but if it rains heavily for two days, you will find water sweeping away people. So, you can imagine what happens elsewhere, where there are no controls. Therefore, we need a very serious policy on this matter. I would even urge the Mover of the Motion, who has done a very good job, to consider what I am saying. It is good for us to look around and see whether there is any research that has been carried out and put everything together, so that we can harmonise everything and ensure that it becomes easier to manage water issues rather than managing things in a piecemeal manner. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}