Residents Bondoni slum in the Nakuru city suburbs are feeling the pain of drought as water is in short supply, rationing is required and taps run dry.
The supply of piped water by the Nakuru Water and Sewerage Company (Nawasco) has been irregular. Residents sometimes sometimes go for days without water.
Some people say they have gone for days without bathing. Some women say they fear their men will leave them because they cannot wash.
Muslims are worried because they need water to wash before prayers.
Everyone misses their chai.
"The supply of water is not like it used to be, we can go for days without water, which has hurt our daily lives," Maburuka Salim said.
"For three days now we have not showered, leave alone taking tea," Maburuka said.
"We are grateful for the lady [woman representative aspirant] who heard our cries and brought water bowsers to our rescue. We need such leaders who act swiftly when called upon during distress," Maburuka added
Among the most affected are the Muslim community who need plenty of water daily to wash during before prayers.
Some men have taken shelter in mosques where there is a constant supply of water.
Residents were getting free water from bowsers delivered to them by Saidi Musa, who is an aspirant to Woman Representative for Nakuru.
"I heard the cries of residents in this area and decided to bring water to them," she said.
"The supply of water has not been constant and it is a very challenging issue, especially for Muslims who need it for religious purposes. They would rather have no electricity but a constant supply of water," Musa said.
If elected woman representative, she said, she would work with other leaders to ensure the water problem is permanently sorted out.
"I would be at the forefront to work with companies and also lobby agencies to resolve the water issues. I would help construct boreholes and containers in houses so people could harvest water," she said.
World Water Day was observed on Tuesday when the importance of groundwater was emphasised.
"Our sources of water are from rivers and boreholes," a Nawasco statement said. "Unfortunately, the Meroreni, Malewa river and our bulk water supplier who source water from Turasha river have been adversely affected by lack of rain."
The company said its production capacity is 40,000 cubic metres, against a demand of 70,000 cubic metres per day. The drought has lowered production capacity to 30,000 cubic metres.
Itare dam in Kuresoi North, Nakuru county, was described as a durable solution to the water shortage in the region.
The dam was expected to supply 100 million litres of water a day.
The Sh38 billion project was to serve a million people in Kuresoi, Molo, Njoro, Rongai and Nakuru city, Kericho and Baringo counties.
The works stalled after the Italian construction company CMC di Ravenna filed for bankruptcy at a court in Italy.
The national government has said construction will resume after consultations are complete and a new contractor identified.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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