{"id":496957,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/496957/?format=json","text_counter":196,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Waiganjo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":2644,"legal_name":"John Muriithi Waiganjo","slug":"john-muriithi-waiganjo"},"content":"If you look at Article 43, which also anchors this Bill, it talks of economic and social rights. It is a constitutional provision that everyone must have access to water. So, in Article 43(1)(b), we talk about access to housing and reasonable state of sanitation. We are talking about sanitation here because, this Bill, as much as it talks about water, it also talks about sanitation. Article 43(c) talks about freedom from hunger. You really cannot talk about freedom from hunger when you do not talk about accessibility to water and plenty of water for that matter. Then (d) talks about clean and safe water in adequate quantities. All these are anchored in our Constitution. So, when we are debating this Bill, we must know that the Constitution came first and buttressed the need to create some sort of law which will regulate the use and management of water. Then when you go to Article 60 of the Constitution which is also mentioned in Clause 4 of this Bill, we are talking of the principles of the land policy because we want sustainable and productive management of land resources. Water is one of the land resources because water basins, dams, pans, rivers and even oceans are on land. We are also talking about sound conservation and protection of ecologically sensitive areas. We are talking of conservation because water must be conserved. So, whatever we are talking about is anchored in the Constitution. Article 232 is on values and principles of public service. Why public service? It is because the personnel that will run these establishments will come from the public service and if you look at Article 232(1)(b), it talks about efficient, effective and economical use of resources. This is serious and it must be emphasised because if you look at Article 232(1)(c) of the Constitution, then it talks about responsive, prompt, effective, impartial and equitable provision of services. So, if we want then to create establishments that will respond well to our public service, then we must do something that is lean, neat and one that does not have bottle necks and bureaucracy. If you look at Part III of this Bill, I think we are not doing very well on it because we have created the Water Resources Regulatory Authority as a corporate body which means that it is independent, it can be sued, it can sue and it has got directors. However, if you look at the membership of the Water Resources Regulatory Authority, the chairperson is to be appointed by the President, then the other members are the Principal Secretary for Finance, Principal Secretary for Water, Principal Secretary for Environment, Principal Secretary for Land and four members appointed by the Cabinet Secretary. It also has got a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is appointed by the Cabinet Secretary upon recommendation of the Board. Therefore, this regulatory authority has under it a Board of Management which is the one that employs the CEO; it can hire and fire the CEO. 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."}