Residents of Mwea in Kirinyaga county have decried water shortage in the area that is crippling their farming activities.
The farmers said they barely have water to shower.
On Friday, Mwea farmers were cutting a padlock allegedly put at Nyamindi by the Authority in charge of water that is restricting them to get water.
The farmers were chanting "Hatujaoga, tunanuka, tunataka maji" as one of them cut a padlock.
This loosely translates to: We haven't showered, we stink, want water.
One farmer, addressing the media, claimed that the Water Resources Management Authority redirected their water to a river.
"Officials from the authority came and disconnected our drinking water and redirected it to the river," he lamented.
The farmer said that the move to redirect their water was against what the stakeholders had agreed.
He claimed that the authority made the move forcefully.
"Yet we had an MOU with partners and stakeholders and we had an agreement on how we would be distributing the drinking water. But the authority forcefully came and cut a padlock that was there and redirected the water to the river."
" We are angry as farmers, and we are here to cut this padlock, so that we can get drinking water like all the others."
He said their farming activities have been put on hold due to lack of water.
He said there are schools, hospitals in need of water.
" We are not farming, we want water to help us do our farming, water to drink and shower," he said.
This comes amidst a water shortage in Kirinyaga county.
“Hatujaoga, tunanuka,” Mwea residents say as they break padlocks put by WARMA at Nyamindi intake amidst water shortage in Kirinyaga pic.twitter.com/JBlyroNibI
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) February 17, 2023
