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{
    "id": 676475,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/676475/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 258,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Gikaria",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2489,
        "legal_name": "David Gikaria",
        "slug": "david-gikaria"
    },
    "content": "Under the social corporate responsibility and giving back to the community, the county governments should put some measures not to allow wastage in our primary schools but allow the pupils to have water that they need. It has affected their health. If you go to some schools, you will find that the situation is chaotic. Half of the school population is not in school because of water borne diseases because they go to toilets which have no water. We force our kids to carry the 20-litre jerrican to school so that they can have water. Most of the parents of pupils who go to public primary schools cannot pay the monthly Kshs200 levy for settlement of water bills. It is unacceptable and against the law for principals and head teachers to send children home since we have free primary education. This matter needs to be looked into in a more effective and appropriate way. As a Government, we have to increase the stipend that is given for the free primary education, especially the allocation given for water and electricity. What I ask Hon. Mwadime to do is that through the NGCDF, we need to encourage the culture of water harvesting. We should remove the asbestos on the roofs and put iron sheets, collect water and let it go to a water reservoir. The only water that the school will pay for is for drinking. It will be minimal. I ask the Government, through the money we allocate to schools, to increase that stipend for water so that it is enough to pay for water for drinking and then we can use the rain water that has been collected in the toilets and in the cleaning of schools. It is very difficult. Hon. Mwadime has said that we should resolve that the Government formulates a financial framework. I think we can only do this through the budget-making process and increasing the amounts that are paid per child in our public primary and secondary schools. If you go and insist that county governments, which have been bestowed with the responsibility of providing water to all public schools should do so it will become very difficult. This is in terms of implementation. Hon. Mwadime has a point. I am saying this because I took the matter in my capacity as a Member of Parliament. I am engaging other stakeholders to try and address this water issue in our public schools. I have approached some NGOs which have accepted to do toilets and water tanks. We allocate a lot of money from our NGCDF to do proper roofing so that we can collect water. Even as we resolve to do this, we understand that water is life. At the same time, as a Parliament, we need to budget, more so on how much money we allocate to a child in a public primary school. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I conclude by saying that as we go through this process, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, which is bestowed with the responsibility of water policy needs to help us construct water tanks and rehabilitate roofs because we need to emphasise on how much water we can collect. Hon. Wanyonyi will confirm to you the issues we dealt with in implementing devolved functions. We will try and talk to the governors as we have always done. We have, however, met a lot of resistance because they keep telling us to keep off their functions, and that we should deal with our own functions. Hon. Wanyonyi will also agree with me that we travelled to almost four counties and it was terrible to explain to them what the national Government had done in improving the health sector. In fact, in one of the hospitals, the medical facilities were just lying in the stores. As much as it is going to be a complex issue in terms of implementation, I support this Motion."
}