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{
    "id": 427451,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/427451/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 164,
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    "content": "from there. Both domestic and international law will not allow that. The people of Murang’a and Nyeri counties cannot block the waters of Tana River from being used by the Akamba downstream and the Tana River County because it starts from Mt. Kenya. This is not allowed by the law. The national Government as enjoined by the Constitution should formulate proper policies that will help compensate communities in counties that have time immemorial protected these natural resources and looked after them so that those that enjoy the resources downstream can also know who the custodians of these public and human good are. We will be veering to a very dangerous situation if we start saying that if a water resource starts in your county, those who drink it downstream must pay for it. That is not the way to go and should not be part of our devolution. Our devolution should be centred on appreciating the protected resources. The national Government should compensate the counties which are the sources of these resources and not by charging the user counties down the line. That is what is done all over. As I said, I have been involved in the long protracted Nile Treaty reformulation. All of you who do not know what the 1918 Nile Treaty said; the British said that the waters of the Nile shall be used as follows; 80 per cent by Egypt, 15 per cent by Sudan and 5 per cent through evaporation. This was without caring that Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, DRC Congo, Rwanda and Burundi were there and were the sources of the water. That is how we have now formulated a new Nile Treaty which they have refused to sign because we have taken away 85 per cent exclusive use. These trans-boundary resources include grazing rights, for instance, between Turkana and Pokot, Narok and Kajiado, Kajiado and Makueni, Mwingi and Machakos and so on. These also affect the northern counties. These rights must be protected so that communities that have lived together harmoniously, grazing their livestock and moving with them from Liboi all the way to Habasweni and to Merti continue to do so. This should not be curtailed simply because we have devolved units. This is a lifestyle that we must protect. We must ensure that lifestyles of Kenyans are respected. As we finish this and go to the Division of Revenue and Revenue Allocation Bills, we should ensure that the circus we saw last time will not happen. We should not pass Bills here, take them to the Lower House, and see them being disregarded and the President moves on to sign Bills that are patently against the spirit of the Constitution. We want things to be done differently. We want to make sure that things are done right. Finally, I want to remind young Sen. Sang from Nandi that everything done here is by the Senate and not by the Jubilee Government. In fact, the Jubilee Government has been engaging a reverse gear to the many progressive things that we do here."
}