Parliament summons wa Iria over Murang'a water wrangles

Parliament has summoned Murang'a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria over water wrangles that have seen the World Bank withdraw a Sh130 million loan.

The Senate issued the summonses after Mr Wa Iria, for the second time in a row, skipped an invitation to appear before the committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources chaired by Nyandarua Senator Mwangi Githiomi.

“We had invited Mr Wa Iria to appear before us this morning to discuss the interruption of water service provisions in Murang'a county and the threat to disconnect water running from Ndakaini Dam to Nairobi County.

“Unfortunately, after sitting here for 30 minutes and as is allowed under our Standing Orders, the Murang’a governor has failed to appear or communicate his failure to attend on time,” Mr Githiomi said.

He directed the Clerk to issue summons compelling Mr Wa Iria to appear before the committee on October 30, 2018 without fail.

Mr Wa Iria risks being slapped with a fine not exceeding Sh500,000 and prosecutions if he fails to honour House summonses.

“We are going to adjourn this meeting and instruct secretariat to summon Wa Iria in a weeks’ time to appear before this committee and tell Kenyans why there are problems of water in Muranga. Water is not supposed to belong to an individual or organisation because it’s a national resource that is supposed to be for all,” Mr Githiomi said.

Mr Githiomi said the committee had been forced to take the punitive route because Mr Wa Iria had “displayed arrogance of the highest order by snubbing the House invitations on two occasions.

Early this month, Water Secretary Samson Chelugui accused Mr Wa Iria of interfering with water services to the residents of Murang’a through various actions.

“This is due to the misunderstanding over the control and management of water services provision and water utility assets between the County government and the water companies in the county,” Mr Chelugui said.

He cited a sitting of Murang'a County Assembly on September 17, 2015 which suspended tariff adjustment approved by Water Services Regulatory Board (Wasreb) and asked residents to ignore the new prices.

The fight between tycoon Peter Munga and governor Wa Iria over control of Muranga Water and Sanitation Company (Muwesco) spilled to the House after Mr Chelugui accused the governor of being behind the genesis of the wrangles.

The committee wanted Mr Wa Iria to explain why he issued an executive order asking residents not to pay water bills to Muwesco that Mr Munga chairs.

The wrangles has caught the attention of the World Bank, which has stopped funding of water infrastructure upgrades in Murang’a.

Mr Wa Iria and Mr Munga have had a long-running feud over management of Muwasco, which has seen the governor reverse approved water tariffs and block the construction of a water institute.

The governor accused the tycoon of bankrolling his opponent Moses Mwangi’s campaigns ahead of the August 2017 general election and interfering with local politics.