Former Transition Authority chairman Kinuthia wa Mwangi. [Photo/nation.co.ke]Former Transitional Authority Chairman Kinuthia Wa Mwangi has opposed the idea of centralising water services as mooted by the in Kiambu County Government. Wamwangi has said that the move will instead complicate water and sewerage services, especially in the densely populated areas.While admitting that some of the water companies in the county were not commercially viable, Kinuthia said that sub-counties such as Kikuyu, Thika and Ruiru needed to run their own water companies due to the high number of people they served.“The primary objective of devolution was to promote social and economic development and the provision of proximate, easily accessible services at the grassroots," said Wamwangi as quoted by Thika Today last weekend.He added: "As an expert in devolution, I will not sit down and watch people take us back to where we were before the new constitution. Let’s not spoil the gains we have already made by creating havoc."Wamwangi the defunct Transition Authority boss argued that the limitations of this model were obvious and centralising water services will not solve the challenges faced by the companies that were operating in losses but compound the services of those that had outstanding services to their clients.“Decentralisation increases effectiveness in service delivery. Each town should be allowed to run its own water company to enable them to offer more responsive public services attuned to local needs," he said.

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