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{
    "id": 494958,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/494958/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 177,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ganya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 18,
        "legal_name": "Francis Chachu Ganya",
        "slug": "francis-ganya"
    },
    "content": "I am a member of this committee and I want to state clearly that as a committee we did a lot of work. We even went as far as getting professional advice and expertise to ensure we understand the Constitution because water is largely a devolved function. We are told that there are some functions still left to the national Government, so we were able to align this Bill with the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. In striving to ensure we separate these functions and align the right functions with the right level of Government, we looked at the current scenario in Kenya. For the most part, the Water Act 2002 that we are trying to repeal is largely devolved already. In that sense the water sector was actually ahead of this Constitution because water services and regulations were largely devolved by the Water Act 2002. But with the new Constitution we had to go further and ensure that these alignments are done, even more so that the levels of Government are able to meet their commitment as per the constitutional functions. Hon. Deputy Speaker, water resource management still lies with the national Government. This is because if we are to develop large water resources such as Chemususu Dam, Mzima Dam or Ndakaini Dam, first the amount of money required to construct such major water resources is in billions and not many county governments could afford even if they are to commit all the funding they get from the national Government to that specific function. Because of that it is imperative that this role remains with the national Government because at times even this water resource serves more than four or five counties. More to that, the Constitution does provide dam setting and management to the national Government. Large scale dams such as Chemususu Dam or other big ones, is largely a national security issue. Those big dams have to be monitored and have to be managed on regular basis because if that is not done and God forbid, if the dams collapse, an entire city, town or urban centre could be drowned which could be a national crisis and even a national security dilemma. Because of that the fellows who drafted the Constitution felt that even though most aspects of water provisions and others are devolved, this particular one had to remain with the national Government. Water policy as well as regulation functions are largely with the national Government even though there are some elements of this which are also a shared function with the county governments and the Bill did ensure that this is well reflected in the new law. The other issue is water shared management or water basin management. This is when rivers or basins cross-cut through so many counties such as Tana Basin, Athi Basin or Ewaso Nyiro Basin such that so many counties are actually covered by these basins. Since it cross-cuts through all these counties sometimes even up to eight counties, it is not easy for one county government to actually have the sole responsibility of managing that basin on its own and that is where the national Government comes in, of course, working closely with those counties within those basins. That is why this function is largely with the national Government. The issue of water governance is well taken care of in this Bill to ensure that the governance of water, both at the county level and the national level, is done well as per the spirit and the letter of the Constitution. The issue of fund management is still largely the function of the national Government but closely shared with the county governments. Similarly, the county governments do have a major role in this Bill because as I said earlier water is largely a 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."
}