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{
    "id": 496997,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/496997/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 236,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker if you allow me, the Constitution in the Fourth Schedule lists these things properly. However, what it lists for purposes of the national Government is found under Item No.22, “water protection, securing sufficient residual water, hydraulic engineering and the safety of dams.” These are the main things that are listed for the purposes of a national Government. However, if you go to the list of functions that are down there for purposes of the county government and look at where water is, you realise that it includes county public works and services, including storm water management systems in built-up areas and water sanitation services. So, water services are with the county governments but the Bill still places services elsewhere. I think this is something that we must look at the Bill again to see exactly that it adds up to the spirit of the Constitution, where issues of water services are reposited at the county governments and issues of regulation, standards and all that are reposited at the national Government. So, this is something that the Bill must be checked afresh. The other thing that I had mentioned earlier is in terms of how water subsidies particularly from Treasury flow down to the county governments or to water service providers. That is not at all mentioned anywhere in the Bill, but that has been one of the major problems that we have had from time to time. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other problem that the Bill has not looked at is the whole issue of enforcement, particularly where the beneficiaries of certain water bodies are in the lower parts or sections of the rivers in relation to the highlands. Where you get the water flowing to the lake regions, it passes through tea and pyrethrum plantations. At the end of the day, there is a lot of effect on the water upstream. So, downstream users are constantly faced with a lot of problems, which include health complications. Again, that has not been mentioned very clearly. The other thing that the Bill has not brought out very clearly is the interfacing between water and other land use arrangements. For sure, this House needs to come up with legislations in terms of land use. However, as it is now, the arrangements or the interface between water and land use is still not very clear in the Bill to the extent that we are budgeting in terms of a budget to replace quite a bit of money for purposes of irrigation and stuff like that. However, the entire Bill hardly mentions anything. It does not interface. It does not mention any relationship between water and the kind of land use system that we are supposed to have. 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."
}