Nairobi and Nyandarua counties are engrossed in a nasty fight over the use of water from Sasumua and Konoike dams – key suppliers of water to the city.
Nyandarua wants the city county to ‘appreciate’ it for using its water but Nairobi has maintained that it has no money and that no law allows it to do projects for another county.
Nyandarua residents and their leaders want the city to initiate some social responsibility projects as appreciation for using water from Sasumua and Konoike dams.
“Those who conserve the rivers and the water catchment areas should also be appreciated by way of building schools and health facilities,” Nyandarua Governor Moses Badilisha said.
Nyandarua residents and their leaders lamented that Nairobi has never shown any sign of appreciation despite using some of its valuable resources.
Speaking before a Senate committee last week, Badilisha said that although Nairobi, through Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, owns 800 acres of land where the two dams sit, some 12,800 acres of catchment area has been affected.
He reiterated that his administration cannot sustain the conservation alone.
“We cannot sustain the conservation of the water catchment area alone. There are four rivers that feed the dam,” he said.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who also appeared before the Senate’s Lands, Environment and Natural Resources Committee said that his county has no budgets to undertake any development projects outside their jurisdiction.
He added the devolved units are currently paying salaries from their own source revenue because of delayed disbursement of funds.
Sakaja said that there is a need for a strong legal framework for benefit sharing to be put in place covering expectations, rights and obligations of all parties concerned.
“Currently there is no specific legislation implemented to guide on the issue,” Sakaja said.
“We, therefore, recommend that the deliberations on sharing of accrued benefits as envisaged in the petition to the Senate be put in abeyance pending the enactment of applicable laws and regulations with a view to ensure that the same is done within the precincts of the law,” he added.
The Sasumua Dam, one of Kenya’s largest dams, is a man-made reservoir that has a total storage capacity of approximately 32 million cubic metres of water.
The dams collect water from four rivers located in Nyandarua county.
Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) built the dam in the 1950s to provide a reliable source of water for Nairobi's growing population and is an important water source for Nairobi, providing up to 20 per cent of the city's water supply.
Last month, Nyandarua county assembly petitioned the Senate after they passed a resolution that the Upper House review and ratify the agreements on the exploitation and utilisation of water under Sasumua and Konoike dams.
The assembly resolved that the Senate should make a determination on the exploitation of the forest harvest in Aberdare Forest and other public forests in Nyandarua in tandem with the legal frameworks that ensure equitable sharing of the proceeds thereof.
The MCAs also want the national government to foot for the construction of a dam in Nyandarua county for distribution and use by the residents
NCWSC Managing Director Nahashon Muguna told the Nyandarua Senator-led Committee that the company has collaborated with the county leadership to maintain the access roads within the catchment area.
This includes the Njabini-Sasumua dam road, Njabini-Curiri Road and Najibini-Chania Road by providing murram while Nyandarua County has been providing the machinery for the works.
“The company has given priority to casuals-outsourced labourers more than 90 per cent within the catchment area. We are also carrying out environmental conservation within the catchment area through partnership with the locals,” Muguna said.