Cabinet Secretaries Alice Wahome (Water) and Njuguna Ndung’u (National Treasury) will today give proposals on a Bill seeking to introduce Public Private Partnerships in the water sector.
The two will appear before the Blue Economy Water and Irrigation Committee for consideration of the Water (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Also to appear before the committee are Principal Secretaries Chris Kiptoo (National Treasury) and Paul Kiprono (Water), Solicitor General Shadrack Mose, and Chief Registrar Ann Amadi.
The principal object of the Bill is to amend the Water Act, of 2016, for the purpose of operationalising public private partnerships in the water sector.
The Water (Amendment) Bill 2023, sponsored by National Assembly majority leader Kimani Ichung’wa, has been introduced in the House for the first reading.
Clause 9 of the Bill proposes the Amendment of section 93 of the Act to provide that a contracting authority may enter into public private partnerships agreements
“This is for purposes of aligning the Water Act to the Public Private Partnerships Act, No. 14 of 2021,” the Bill reads.
The Bill will make it mandatory for Nairobi and other counties that do not produce their own water to buy the commodity.
According to the bill, Nairobi will buy water in bulk from the Athi Waterworks Development Agency.
“The bill proposes the amendment of section 100 of the act to provide for the supply of bulk water in counties by waterworks development agencies established under the act,” it states.
Currently, Nairobi County does not pay host counties or the national government for the resource it sells to its residents through the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company.
The city county receives its water from Ndakaini, Sasumua, Konoike and Thika Dam, which are all located outside the city.
Ndakaini is in Murangá’a county, Thika Dam in Kiambu while Konoike and Sasamua dams are in Nyandarua.
