BY HILTON OTENYO
The government will increase water and sanitation coverage in six counties in the lake region in the next five years Water, Sanitation and Irritation Cabinet Secretary Eric Murithi said.
Lake Victoria Water Works Development Agency has developed a strategic plan anchored on five themes to increase water coverage from the current 72 to 75 per cent.
The investment framework includes increasing sewage coverage, management and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure, increasing collaboration, resource mobilisation and stakeholder engagement, and strengthening institutional capacities of the agency and water service providers. Murithi said every water project undertaken by the agency in Kakamega, Busia, Vihiga, Nandi, Trans-Nzoia and Bungoma counties has a direct impact on health and economic growth of the target communities.
“The government is committed to ensuring the financial obligations of the agency are met. We are ready to partner with bilateral and development donors to ensure all projects are financed to completion.”
The CS spoke during the launch of Lake Victoria North Waterworks Development Agency’s five-year strategic plan 2023-27 in Kakamega.
Agency CEO Joel Wamalwa said all its schemes are gravity operated to reduce cost of water to ensure water companies are able to supply water at affordable cost and connect more people.
The agency will activate its water police unit to enhance patrols in the region to tame the rising non-revenue water that has denied service providers money to meet their financial obligations including repayment of loans obtained to develop infrastructure.
Wamalwa said the agency will enter into MoUs with water companies within the catchment area to commit them to take care of the developed infrastructure in their respective areas.
“Containing illegal connections and sealing broken infrastructure will reduce non-revenue water and ensure the companies have more water to sell and increase their revenue,” he said.
The Lake Victoria North water agency plans to upgrade the Tindinyo-Kakamega gravity scheme to have more people connected so that service providers can raise revenue to repay the Sh1.2 billion borrowed to establish the scheme. County governments have not been able to repay the loan since the scheme was handed over to them after 2013.
“As an agency, we want to upgrade the infrastructure so that many people can be connected and then come up with a repayment plan,” he said.
The agency will collaborate with Kakamega government to revive and complete the stalled Sh2.3 billion Maraba sewerage plant to expand sanitation coverage to match the high rate of urbanisation.
Wamalwa said the project had already consumed Sh2.3
billion for development of infrastructure by the time it
stalled, adding that it requires about Sh100 million to
complete treatment works.