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{
    "id": 837136,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/837136/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 62,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have the issue of Chebara Dam water which you are much familiar with. If Murang’a County’s approach goes through, there will be no water in Eldoret because Elgeyo-Marakwet County is the source of most of the water that goes to Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Baringo and Turkana counties, and so on and so forth. This must be handled very carefully. I would like to advise my friend Sen. Kang’ata because I know he is a leader and a sober person. We have been with him since campus days. He should make sure that he does not become part of the leaders that want to use this issue for political campaign because the manner in which the Governor and local leaders are handling the issue is wrong. Everybody is saying that they will disconnect water that crosses boundaries of counties so that the resource cannot go beyond. In Chebara, we are always threated by the leadership in Elgeyo-Marakwet to disconnect water to Uasin Gishu. If it happens that Kajiado disconnects water to Makueni, Murang’a disconnects water to Nairobi, Elgeyo-Marakwet disconnects water to Uasin Gishu and Nandi disconnects water to Kisumu, then it will be the same story for everyone in high altitude areas. That will create a disaster in this country and we will begin fighting. This misunderstanding has arisen from the laws we have concerning natural resources, which is different from the case of water. What they are saying is that Murang’a should benefit from water resources, distribution of the water and management of the environment. In fact, managing the environment in Murang’a is not a Murang’a problem alone but a national problem. That is why we say that the Mau forest should be managed because it is not a Maasai issue but a Kenyan problem. When we say that we want to manage Embobut Forest where I come from, it is not a Marakwet issue but a Kenyan issue. I want to challenge that because when I was the Chair of the Committee on Devolved Governments, I took personal initiative to call people and take the issues from the limelight. I challenge my colleague from Laikipia, who is the Chair of the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, to take personal initiative because the Committee is there to deal with intergovernmental relations. He can work with the Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources to find solutions because ultimately Kenyans will want to know the legal framework. Lastly I want to challenge my friend Hon. Chelugui. Whereas he has a national duty to deal with water as a national resource, he must also live with the reality on the ground. He should know that since the national Government is sort of the big brother, that problem must not escalate further because once people take hard positions, then the issue will become worse because it will set precedent in all the counties. That will make the issues complicated. When you do a dam in Makueni County, for example, it should not benefit Makueni County alone but many counties. Mzima Dam at the coast will benefit all the counties in the coast region. It will not benefit everybody but water will be channeled to all coastal counties. If we have the idea that it can only benefit people where the dam is situated or where the source is, we will have a big problem as a country. I thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}