• Kahuti water company held its AGM on April 24 against calls by the county government to postpone it.
• The executive had published a notice warning that such a meeting would be illegal and warned the stakeholders to keep off.
A Murang'a water company last week defied the county government and held an annual general meeting which the devolved unit wanted to be postponed pending consultations.
Kahuti Water and Sanitation Company said it had a legal right to hold the AGM on April 24.
The county government had declared the meeting illegal in a public notice.
Water executive Paul Macharia had in a notice asked banks and stakeholders to keep off the "illegal" meeting.
The executive said water firms are under the county government and subject to the Public Finance Management Act.
But Kahuti's managing director Ephantus Kamau said, “The water company has a statutory requirement to hold annual general meetings to give its progress to stakeholders”.
Kamau said the company had been given a clean bill of health by the auditor general.
He said the Companies Act demands that it should hold such meetings.
Kamau said he wrote to the Water Services Regulatory Board about the county government’s, but there was no response.
“But judging from what I have seen happening with other companies, I know the board is not opposed to our holding an AGM,” he said.
Kamau said what is required to end the water wars is a dialogue.
“We need to dialogue without some people thinking they are superior and have answers to everything. Let them listen to some of us who have been in the sector for a long time.”
The CEC maintained the meeting was null and void. “We have warned them against holding AGMs, board meetings or making any major decision without consulting the county government.”
Macharia insisted that all water service providers are county entities and are governed by the Public Finance Management Act.
“We have a constitutional mandate of managing and gazetting finances of all county entities," he said in reference to a failed attempt by the county government to change the signatories of the Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company bank account.
On March 28, Finance executive David Waweru wrote to Equity Bank, indicating the county government wanted to change signatories after the enactment of Murang’a County Water and Sanitation Act.
Waweru wanted the bank to review the Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company’s signing mandate to include the county chief officer in charge of Revenue and Finance Operations Edwin Kimuyu.
The bank rejected the proposal, arguing that such an action can only be taken following a resolution by the board of directors.