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{
    "id": 494977,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/494977/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 196,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Gichigi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1909,
        "legal_name": "Samuel Kamunye Gichigi",
        "slug": "samuel-kamunye-gichigi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I will rise to support the Bill of improving and reforming the water legal regime within the country. However, I am anxiously waiting to see the Report by the Committee because the Bill as it is has a lot of challenges. Most of the provisions here appear to be directly borrowed from the old Act. Other than changing the names of the many authorities that are in this sector, I do not see a lot of changes that may necessarily assist this country. The Bill is a recipe for a lot of confusion between the various authorities and the county governments. In not less than six provisions, the Bill is suggesting that an authority is going to make a decision in consultation with the officer in charge of water in the county, without saying how that consultation is going to be done. I trust that the Committee has come up with clarity on the issue. Otherwise, we are likely to go back to the period of talking about consultation; I have not been consulted; counties and water authorities will probably end up in courts. The issue of water coming from one county and flowing to another is not clear. We are aware that the Constitution vests ownership of the water resource in the national Government. That is how it ought to be. It is not fair to say that a county, or an area, that is a source of water that flows to another county should merely benefit from an ambiguous sort of assistance. We would want the relationship to be defined. In Nyandarua County, where I come from, water is an important resource to us, but it does not benefit the locals. Our people are forced to see it flow through huge pipes to go to our neighboring counties, especially Nakuru. They do not benefit from it. There is a major dam called “Konoike” in my constituency, which was constructed in the 1980s, 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."
}