Poor access to water remains a major challenge to women in the county and other parts of the country, Nakuru Woman Rep Lisa Chelule has said.
She said many women were still forced to walk long distances in search of water.
“Women, especially in the interior areas of Nakuru county such as Subukia, Gilgil and Navasha still spend a lot of the time in search of water.”
The legislator distributed close to 100 water tanks to three sub-counties of Bahati, Nakuru Town East and Nakuru Town West.
Chelule said, equipped with the water tanks, vulnerable families could now access clean water for domestic use while women would save the time spent in search of the vital community to do other chores.
Availability of water would also increase learning hours for girls who sometimes joined their mothers to fetch water.
“Water is very vital, especially for women as it would also ensure menstrual hygiene and general cleanliness,” said Chelule, who was accompanied by colleagues from 14 counties.
Needy families received the tanks for rainwater harvesting from the National Government Affirmative Action Fund.
They also received other empowerment tools such as sewing machines and soap processing equipment. The beneficiaries were widows, elderly women, and persons living with disability.
Chelule said rainwater harvesting would create resilience against climate change effects such as prolonged drought.
The women MPs called for urgent and stringent action against rising cases of sexual and gender based violence and femicide in Kenya.
Citing the recent killings of women in Nairobi’s Pipeline area and Rongai in Nakuru, the lawmakers asked security agencies to ensure the culprits were arrested and charged.
In mid-July, bodies of women were discovered dumped in an abandoned quarry in Mukuru kwa Njenga slums in Nairobi.
In August, a suspected serial killer raped, tortured and murdered six women, among them a child, in Rongai sub-county in Nakuru.
Chelule demanded that the state must make the country safe for women and girls.
“We demand for tough action from our security agencies to ensure that women in our society are safe everywhere and always,” she said.
She said any form of GBV was unacceptable in modern society and that courts must act tough on those convicted for the violence.
