Today being International Water day , issues surrounding the topic coming to light and cartels have deep entrenched themselves in the water crisis in Nairobi ,even as the world marks the World Water Day it has now emerged that an 844 people e around the world do not have access to clean water.
This is according to Water Aid East Africa which has been working on a new strategy to combat these challenges of water and sanitation. Water Aid East Africa’s Regional Director, Olutayo B-Bowale the organization has been trying to find a strategy that will see to it that these numbers are reduced. Nairobi county is among the counties that have been affected by the issues of illegal water connections and cartels that control the distribution of water in informal settlements which the county had promised to eradicate.
“Efforts have been made within the Water Act 2016 to ensure that nobody is to supply water without any form of license or permit but implementing that requires collective action. It cannot be done alone by the government or utilities, civil society organization or the communities. It really needs a joint operation.” she said
She also added that the drought in the country can be addressed if both the national and county governments work together to ensure that water resources allocated to counties like Turkana are properly managed and the government prioritizes water and sanitation projects by coming up with long lasting solutions. “The issue of counties like Turkana have received quite a bit in terms of funding even at the county level, but how are the funds being utilized? Does it prioritize water and sanitation? If not what can be done to ensure that it becomes a priority?” she added.
Nairobi county has made an effort to eradicate water cartels who have been selling water illegally to Nairobi residents. Early this month, over 100 people were arrested in a crackdown on illegal water connections in different parts of Nairobi.