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{
    "id": 494914,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/494914/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 133,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 382,
        "legal_name": "Amina Ali Abdalla",
        "slug": "amina-abdalla"
    },
    "content": "reducing investment in water resources. As such, we were not able to expand as fast as possible. The other objective was to kill corruption in the sector. I want to report that after the water sector reforms and the enactment of the Water Act, 2002, we ended up having more investment in the sector with the international community willing to invest in that sector. Therefore, there was more investment in the water sector. The separation of co- ordination and policy development from water service provision and inclusion of private entities really brought major improvements. The reforms also helped in devolving the infrastructure development in this sector through the Water Services Boards which are currently eight in number. We then ask this question: Why do we really need to reform the sector if it was ahead of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 in matters of devolution and good governance in the water sector? The UN had declared that the crisis in the water sector is a governance crisis rather than a water provision problem. Why did we then need to reform the Water Act, 2002? It had inculcated good governance in the water sector and it was ahead of the Constitution by having devolved water infrastructure development. Despite all these work that has been done through the Water Act, 2002, water continues to be a problem and waterborne diseases still continue to cost the Government of Kenya over Kshs2.7 billion. Actually, I think it is Kshs27--- Allow me to check the actual figure since I am allowed to refer to the document: “Poor drinking water quality and poor sanitation continues to cost our Government Kshs27 million each year.” The document further states that Kshs4.3 billion is lost to healthcare; Kshs2.2 million is lost to accessing time; Kshs300 million is lost in productivity; and Kshs20 billion is lost in premature deaths. During our consultations with the public, one of the inputs we were given is that we seem, as a nation, to be investing disproportionately, that if we did invest more in water we would need to invest less in health. This is because water borne disease cost this country over Kshs20 billion annually. The other issue that necessitated the review of the sector is that there were lessons learnt during the implementation of the Water Act, 2002 that required to streamline the sector. This includes the fact that we have had difficulties meeting the water demands, especially among the rural poor; there has been poor co-ordination among the institutions working in this sector; and, finally, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 requiring and providing for different functions between the levels of Government. Unfortunately, the Report of the Committee is ready and it is what I am referring to. However, it is still going on through the approval process in Parliament and we hope to table it by Tuesday next week. During our public consultation process, we advertised in the newspapers for public input. We called different stakeholders to give us oral submissions on different issues in the Act that they wanted us to review. The institutions we consulted include the following: The Water Services Regulatory Board; the Ministry of Water; The Kenya Water Partnership; The National Environmental Civil Society Alliance; The Nairobi City Council; The Kenya Private Sector Alliance; The Kenya County Government Workers Union; The Union of Kenya Civil Servants; the Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers; Katiba Watch; and VSO Jitolee which did a joint memorandum. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}