A section of Kiambu County leaders have opposed a plan by Governor Ferdinand Waititu’s administration to dissolve eight water companies and replace them with one entity.
Gladys Chania, a politician in the county said the county government has erred in its proposed move to form the Kiambu Water and Sewerage Company Limited.
In her argument, she noted that the move is void of input from all stakeholders within the county which renders it partisan and lacks goodwill from Kiambu residents.
“In every company, the property belongs to the stakeholders. In this case, the county government ought to have sold the idea to the stakeholders and deliberate the pros and cons,” she said.
Chania opined that what Kiambu residents need in matters water is consumer protection and “confidence on sustainability of the water services”.
The governor seeks to merge Limuru, Kikuyu, Karuri, Ruiru Juja, Thika, Kiambu, Githunguri, and Gatundu water and sewerage companies into one entity.
However, water services regulator, the Water Services Regulatory Board (Wasreb), has questioned the legality of proposed Kiambu Water and Sewerage Company Limited.
In an advertisement signed by Wasreb Chief Executive Officer Robert Gakubia, he stated that the county is yet to give a legal and regulatory position for consumer protection and sustainability of the water services sector.
“No information has been received on compliance with regulatory requirements in terms of viability and sustainability of the new entity under the Water Act 2016,” Gakubia said.
Both Chania and the Wasreb CEO noted that merging the 8 companies was premature since initiation and completion of the contemplated process, under the Companies Act 2015 and the Insolvency Act 2015, is yet to be finalized.
Chania in opposing the merger said teething issues in Kiambu’s water sector have not been addressed yet.
“We have areas where we do not have water companies like in Juja which is served by Ruiru and Thika respectively.
“This tells you there are still so many primary fundamental areas that the county government would have addressed in relation to water before the merger,” said Chania.
The former aspirant for Kiambu County Women representative said a merger is not a priority because it will have adverse effects on the implementation and delivery of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.
She said such undertakings by the county government require informed line of thought by professionals and should not be left to politicians alone.
“Its high time politicians agree that all problems cannot be solved by political leaders,” averred Chania. Technical and professional leadership should be given space to execute their mandate.”
Last week the High Court ordered the county government not to merge the firms after some residents filed a petition challenging the merger plan.