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{
    "id": 496916,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/496916/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 155,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2408,
        "legal_name": "James Onyango Oyoo",
        "slug": "james-onyango-oyoo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to make my contribution. I have my reservations about this Water Bill in its current form. I remember that after Independence, during the former President Kenyatta’s regime, Kenyans were promised that by the year 2000, there would be clean piped water at every doorstep. The Government is not run by a Minister. It is an institution and even after Paul Ngei fell off with the Government, if the Government had good faith in the implementation of that, it would have walked its talk and by now, there would be piped clean water for everybody. As I speak, we have had opportunities which have been misused. For instance, when the Government was working on a major programme to supply water through the so-called Kilimanjaro Water Project, some few individuals grabbed the opportunity and directed water to their farms. That was of no consequence to Kenyans. I want to say that the Government should be serious and put in place a proper mechanism to enable the public benefit from this concept which is meant to bring water to needy Kenyans. Currently, as a devolved function, water has been taken to the county governments. Given the standards that are manifested by county governments in performing their various functions, I believe the Government needs to rethink about the issue of water. I believe if the Government means well, water is like health and education. The Government should think about bringing water back to the national Government so that it can run it directly. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am sure we have had several NGOs which have meant well and they have used a lot of money to make sure that there is good water ready for people’s use. But, unfortunately, that money has been misappropriated by several “fat cats” and a few unscrupulous NGO officials. To my consternation, those people who have misappropriated that money are left to walk away scot-free. The Judiciary is a different arm of the Government. Kenyans are wondering how somebody who is known can steal pipes and embezzle money that is meant for water supply. Corruption is not done by one person; it done by people. Therefore, when people steal water pipes, they know where to sell them. When the courts declare them innocent, it is very unfortunate. It is not in tandem with Uhuru Kenyatta’s concept of leading a corruption-free country. This is very bad. We need people who are assisting, like my respected Leader of Majority Party, to shed more light so that people who steal public property like pipes and land are punished. They should be taken to court immediately. They should not only be taken to court, we should escort them to jails. We should not make people appear in court and they are given the opportunity to change suits everyday and hit news headlines. That opportunity should be given to more decent people. 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."
}