The Council of Governor Water, Forestry and Mining Committee held a two day meeting to discuss the County Transition Implementation Plans (TIPS) for devolved forestry function and the Water Bill 2014. The meeting that was official opened by the Chairperson of the committee, H.E Benjamin Cheboi, saw the CECs in charge of this docket come together to discuss these two important subjects. In his speech, Governor Cheboi said, it is important that the County Governments pay a lot of attention to matters that involve the Environment and the natural resources within the counties. He also noted that the County Governments will work hand in hand with the National Government to ensure that the forestry function succeeds and elements like the water towers have proper conservative measures. The meeting begun with the Chairman CECs Water, Forestry and Mining Committee, Dr. John Kipkorir Chumo opening the meeting with a clear explanation of what TIPs is.

The TIPS is a document that sets out how the County Governments and the National government will share the forestry function. The document specifically outlines the roles that both levels of government are going to play. It provides support towards establishment of strong policy, legal and institutional frameworks that anchor on devolution and ensured that they are able to support the envisioned partnerships between County Governments and Kenya Forestry Service (KFS) to deliver upon the goals, objectives and outcomes they are seeking to derive through them. The meeting had various deliberations with the Legal Counsel of the Council of Governors, Peter Wanyama advising in various aspects that the document has on legal implications.

During the meeting, the Water Bill 2014 was also discussed. The Bill that is due for mediation between the two levels of Government has some sections that the County Governments are not in agreement with and the meeting was to ensure that the position of the Council of Governors is clear and that the proposed amendments have been included in the document. The meeting was brought to a close by the Chairman of the caucus after a press brief, where they were addressing the issue of the El Nino funds and how the money was spent.