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{
    "id": 494915,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/494915/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 134,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 382,
        "legal_name": "Amina Ali Abdalla",
        "slug": "amina-abdalla"
    },
    "content": "Having consulted all these stakeholders, we appreciated the fact that the starting point for these matters are the different functions that the Constitution places in the two levels of Government vis-à-vis the management of the water sector. It is for this reason that we looked at Schedule IV. It is very clear that water resources are vested on the national Government. This is an important aspect that needs to be appreciated because it is going to affect how we relate in this sector in totality especially in light of devolution. Once we state that water resources are vested in the national Government, it means, for example, that Nairobi River is vested in the national Government and not in the County of Nairobi. Managing that particular resource and deciding whether or not to abstract water from the Nairobi River and giving licence for water abstraction is a function of the national Government and not the county government. This is an important constitutional principle which we must keep in mind because it translates to what institutions we will allow in this sector and what their functions and roles are. This morning I read in the newspapers that a court ruled that the Water Resources Regulatory Authority cannot ask for fees to abstract sea water. This will be cured when we appreciate that the Constitution gives the national Government powers of use of international waters and water resources. Sea water happens to be part of the international waters. Now, because of that ruling we will be more explicit in our amendment. The role of the national Government is consumer protection. This is going to be a very important issue in terms of contention because many stakeholders who came to see us wanted us to scrap the Water Services Regulatory Authority. This is the Authority that regulates water providers. It gives them licence to work and checks on their quality. One of the submissions from the county of Nairobi is that they felt that institution is no longer necessary and that the Act on urban cities gave powers for tariff settlement to the County of Nairobi as early as 2013. It will be impossible for the national Government to be able to protect consumers should the county governments decide to change tariffs either up or down because it depends on the politics of the day. A county governor might decide, for example, to lower the cost of water in his county without appreciating that the service providers need the money to run the water treatment facilities. Based on this constitutional function of the national Government, we will be proposing the retention of the water services boards because it is the function of the water services regulatory body so that it helps the national Government meet its requirement for consumer protection. Another function of the national Government that we intend to protect dearly is the fact that the national Government is responsible for national public works. Having said that the national Government is responsible for water resources in total, it means that every public work, say, a dam that uses a particular water resource is a function of the national Government. This is why despite input from some stakeholders to kill the national institutions responsible for constructing dams and water pans; we will be urging the House to retain them because how else would the national Government be able to implement this function of providing national public works? The Constitution also gives the national Government the function of water protection, securing residual water, hydraulics, engineering and the safety of dams. In fact, hon. Deputy Speaker, there was a funny input by one of the stakeholders who claimed that the national Government has a tendency of “parastatalising” any devolved function and saying that we seem to think that national Government should be 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."
}