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A Senate oversight committee has directed Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi to put in place measures for the revive of two water companies within 60 days.

This was after the Senate Public Investment and Special Funds Committee established that Kirandich Water Company has no staff and that the that the Board of Directors for water utility firm was not established in line with the law.

When he appeared before the Senator Godfrey Osotsi-led committee, Governor Cheboi was at pains to show the committee why his administration had not reviewed the water tariff at the time of audit.

In addition, Senators noted that Kirandich and Eldama Ravine water companies had high Non-Revenue Water at 66 per cent and 69 per cent respectively for Financial Year 2020/21 that exceeded the sector benchmark of 25 as per Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) guidelines.

The committee directed the County Government of Baringo to submit comprehensive measures on how the water companies intend to tackle the high Non-Revenue Water within 14 days and to clearly indicate how the respective managements intend to handle both the physical and the commercial losses.

“The Committee directs the County Government of Baringo to constitute a Board of Directors for the water company in line with the Water Act, 2016, WASREB Guidelines and other guiding laws within 60 days,” said Osotsi (Vihiga).

According to Osotsi, the Office of the Auditor-General suffered serious limitation of submission of documents during the audit process for the years under review leading to disclaimer of opinion for Kirandich Water Company.

“The Committee directs the Governor of County Government of Baringo to ensure the Kirandich Water Company reconstructs the financial statements for the three financial years and submit to the OAG for audit,” said Osotsi.

Osotsi said Kirandich Water Company and Eldama Ravine Water and Sewerage Company Limited have been on a loss-making trend leading to negative working capital.

However, Cheboi told the committee that Eldama Ravine was in the process of transiting from Eldama Ravine Water and Sewerage Company to Chemususu Water and Sewerage Company Limited.