Kahiga protests State's bid to control Tetu, Mathira water companies

Two men work at Tetu Water Service Company's intake on the Gura River, in Othaya, Nyeri on March 12, 2019. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

The national government has come under the spotlight over attempts to take over the management of Tetu-Aberdare and Mathira water companies from the Nyeri county government.

Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga who appeared before the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee yesterday said that Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome had gazetted the intended takeover of the companies while serving in the Water Ministry before her transfer last week.

Kahiga called on the Senate to intervene and ensure that Water Cabinet Secretary Zachary Njeru reverses the gazette notice since the takeover of the water firms will be a clawback on devolution an appeal supported by the committee chaired by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi.

"I would like to inform this committee that Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome had issued a gazette notice over the intended takeover of the management of the two water companies while serving in the Ministry of Water, I am appealing to the new Water Cabinet Secretary to reverse this," he said.

The governor said they had applied for tariff review to the Water Service Regulatory Board (WASREB), prompting the committee to raise concern that counties were complaining over WASREB's mandate which was slowing down operations of water companies across the country.

Migori Senator Eddy Oketch called for the disbandment of WASREB for what he termed holding water companies hostage, wondering why it controls water tariffs yet counties are not out to make profits but to provide services to residents.

Kahiga said regional parastatals should not be in place since they perform county government functions and asked the Senate to look into the matter and have devolved functions fully managed by the counties to avoid conflict of interest.

"Why should we have regional parastatals performing roles that should be handled by the counties, this is duplication of roles and wastage of public funds, the Senate should support counties to ensure that they are able to handle all matters that are devolved within their jurisdiction," he said.

The committee directed the County Executive Committee Members in charge of Finance and Water Services to continuously monitor and report on the financial position of the water companies to the County Executive Committee in line with section 184 Public Finance Management Act, 2012.

Osotsi said for optimum budgetary performance, the governor should ensure that the management and the board of directors of Tetu Aberdare Water and Sanitation Company Limited regularly monitor the performance of the company's budget and undertake supplementary budgets when necessary.

"The Committee notes that Tetu Aberdare Water Company and Mathira Water Company had Non-Revenue Water of 29 per cent and 43 per cent respectively for the financial year 2020/21, which exceeded the sector benchmark of 25 per cent as per Water Services Regulatory Board guidelines," he said.

The Senate committee asked the governor to ensure the water companies submit comprehensive measures on how they intend to tackle the high non-revenue water, clearly indicating how the physical and commercial losses will be addressed.

The committee asked the Office of the Auditor-General to verify the measures and report on their effectiveness in the subsequent audit cycle.