Trans-Nzoia Governor George Natembeya is under pressure after senators questioned him over the loss of millions of shillings through unaccounted water and the underuse of public hospitals in the county.
Governor Natembeya and his executive team appeared before the Senate Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds Sub-Committee, chaired by Senator Peris Tobiko, to respond to audit queries on water services and health facilities.
The committee examined audit reports showing that the Trans-Nzoia Water and Sewerage Company produced 3,669,674 cubic metres of water during the 2024–2025 financial year at a cost of Sh55 per cubic metre. However, only 2,020,816 cubic metres were billed to customers, leaving 1,648,858 cubic metres, or 44.9 per cent, as non-revenue water. At production cost alone, the county lost an estimated Sh90.7 million on water that brought in no income.
Senator Tobiko faulted the county for failing to clearly explain the losses.
“You cannot continue to report nearly half of your water as lost without telling this Committee how much of it is physical loss and how much is commercial loss. We want figures, percentages and the cost in shillings. Anything less is evasion,” she said.
The senators also raised concerns over Trans-Nzoia Water and Sewerage Company’s claim that more than Sh250 million in receivables and close to Sh200 million in payables could not be fully supported because they were inherited from a defunct utility. Lawmakers questioned how such liabilities could be recorded without proper documents.
Senator George Mbugua dismissed the explanation, saying it was unacceptable. “Inherited figures are not a defence. If you cannot support the numbers, then you cannot ask Kenyans to believe them. This is exactly how public money disappears,” she said.
The committee further turned its attention to health services in the county, questioning why the county’s only two Level 4 hospitals—Kitale County Referral Hospital and Wamalwa Kijana Teaching and Referral Hospital—are located barely two kilometres apart.
Following the transfer of nearly 90 per cent of services to Wamalwa Kijana Hospital, Kitale Hospital has remained largely unused, with many wards, offices and examination rooms lying idle.
Senators were particularly concerned about a reference laboratory at Kitale Hospital valued at about Sh500 million, which previously generated around Sh3 million every three months. Since the services were moved, the laboratory has remained largely inactive, leaving expensive equipment unused.
Governor Natembeya defended the county’s decisions, saying the changes were meant to improve service delivery. “The county rationalised services to improve efficiency, and we are working to reactivate idle assets and reduce water losses,” he told the committee.
However, Senator Tobiko questioned the reasoning behind the move. “Efficiency cannot mean abandoning billion-shilling facilities while citizens in other parts of the county lack access. This Committee will not accept wastage dressed up as reform,” she said.
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