The completion of the Sh1 billion Kimugu water project in Kericho County has been delayed by 15 months.
It is one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s flagship projects in the South Rift region that have not been delivered despite repeated promises to residents.
Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency, under the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, is implementing the project, whose construction began on April 23, 2019 with completion originally set for April 2021.
In January this year, delivery of the project was pushed to May, after a visit by former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya and members of the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU).
During a visit by new Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Maalim Mohamed this week, it came to the fore that the contractor required a few more weeks to complete the project.
“I am confident that the project will be completed on time for its commissioning and use by residents of the region who have been patient with the challenges faced in its implementation,” Mr Mohamed said.
He said the project was largely complete, except for final touches.
The Kenyan and German governments are co-funding the project through the KfW Development Bank. It is projected to produce 13.5 million cubic metres of water per day for over 200,000 residents.
Mr Eric Siele, the managing director of the Kericho Water and Sanitation Company (Kewasco), said the project was 93 per cent complete.
Upon completion, it is expected to ease perennial water shortages in Kericho town and trading centres within the municipality.
Residents have been up in arms against the county government’s failure to address the problem over the years, with pressure piling up to rehabilitate existing water lines.
“Kewasco can only supply 2.6 million cubic metres of water to Kericho residents against a demand of 16 million cubic metres. Encroachment of the South West Mau forest over the years, which is the main source of tributaries for the Timbilil river, has led to acute water shortages in the region,” said Mr Siele.
He also cited a population explosion in the town, which is the county headquarters, caused by rural-urban migration. This, he said, had aggravated water shortages in the last decade.
Mr Michael Opany, a senior engineer with Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency, said in a recent interview that due to logistical challenges, the project was extended by about eight months last year, shifting the completion date to December 16, 2021.
A section of the treatment plant of the Kimugu water project whose construction is ongoing in the outskirts of Kericho town
But even with that extension, the contractor was unable to complete the project.
Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony admitted in an interview that the county had been unable to generate enough water for residents due to a rising population and increasing demand.
“Water infrastructure is a very expensive undertaking, with the county and national governments seeking donor funding to implement the various projects in the region,” Prof Chepkwony said.
The county, he said, had funded water projects in the six sub-counties – Ainamoi, Bureti, Belgut, Kipkelion East, Kipkelion West and Soin Sigowet – in a bid to alleviate shortages.
Bomet and Kericho counties have been engaged in a spat over water supply from the Itare water works in Konoin constituency Bomet to residents of Bureti sub-county in Kericho.
Bomet, under a memorandum of understanding, is supposed to supply bulk water to Kewasco, which in turn would sell it to residents of Kapkatet and Litein trading centres.
But Kewasco has faced a barrage of accusations from the Bomet Water and Sanitation Company (Bomwasco), which claims the former had failed to remit an agreed quarterly sum.
The latest report indicates that Kewasco has a pending bill of Sh29 million owed to Bomwasco, but the water supply was reconnected after months of dry taps.
For eight years, the two companies have been fighting over disconnection and payment, even with interventions from governors Chepkwony and Prof Hillary Barchok (Bomet).
Residents of Litein and Kapkatet trading centres mostly depend on hawkers, who supply water from local rivers using donkeys and handcarts.
“It is by the grace of God that we have not recorded an outbreak of waterborne diseases in Litein and Kapkatet due to the perennial water shortages and supply of raw water from local rivers,” said Mr Andrew Kimetto, a Kipsigis elder.
Mr Kimetto said the next county administration should address the issue with finality so that residents, schools, colleges, hospitals and others can have reliable, piped, clean and safe drinking water. BY DAILY NATION