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{
    "id": 499297,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/499297/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 164,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Anami",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2773,
        "legal_name": "Lisamula Silverse Anami",
        "slug": "lisamula-silverse-anami"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Water as a resource is very fundamental to the well being of individuals and society in general. I would like to commend a Minister for Water and this House in 2002 when they came up with water sector reforms. This provided a basis for improvement of water provision. But the need for alignment of these reforms to constitutional provisions now is very important. For that reason, I would like to support this Bill, especially when it comes to the management of water resource areas. We have many challenges here. We have been discussing the issue of climate change. As we endeavour to manage our resources and water catchment areas, we need to be sensitive about this. There should be participation by communities and institutions because water cannot be made a sectoral business. We should have some threshold interventions that all users must provide as a guarantee of protection of catchment areas. We have seen instances where service providers play with water resources. This should not be allowed to continue. We have seen people playing politics with water catchment areas. I think we need to tighten the provisions in this Bill to protect water from all adverse interventions, and to train our younger generations to learn to protect this resource. Every time we say water is life; but saying water is life alone is not enough. It is important for us to enable our younger Kenyans to appreciate the fact that water is life and, therefore, everyone needs to protect it. The Constitution has provided for participation of citizens of this country in all endeavours for development. In this regard, I would, particularly, like us to embrace cultural practices that communities have embraced for a long time, and which have sustained water provision and catchment areas. This is very important because our communities do not live in a vacuum. They have morals that have enabled them to sustain water resources. It is good for us to respect these and incorporate them in the management of water resources. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for us to achieve this, we need a lot of co- ordination. The co-ordination that has been proposed in this Bill is very encouraging; we have various authorities that will take care of various aspects of water management and service provision in the water sector. We have the fundamental promise that the Constitution has given Kenyans, and that is devolution. We need to find a place for this and do that very carefully. There should be an interface between the county governments and the national Government in the management of water. As you know, this country has entered into some conventions and agreements that are not sustainable and are hurting us like the agreement on the use of the River Nile waters. It is very important that we review such conventions and agreements, so that we can manage our water resources and service provision in the water sector in a sustainable manner. We are now experiencing challenges in food security and insecurity. These are fundamental and basic needs in human life. Water is central in these. It would be very important for us to create an interface between agriculture and water, so that we can 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."
}