WASH News East Africa
News feed maintained by information specialists from IRC and partners.
Sudan: Water, water everywhere – but it’s not fit to drink
02 May 08
Malakal, on the banks of the world’s longest river in Sudan’s Upper Nile State, should have enough water to quench thirst and clean itself; instead the town was grappling with serious challenges as it marked the international week of sanitation in March. With the onset of the rainy season, aid workers worry that cholera could [...]
Kenya - Prison inmates pioneer sanitation project in East Africa
23 Apr 08
Washington, April 15 (ANI): Inmates at a prison on the East coast of Africa are pioneering a sanitation project that would work with nature to neutralize human wastes.According to a report in ENN (Environmental News Network), apart from wastewater management, the project is to assess using the wetland- filtered water for irrigation and fish farming, [...]
Kenya: Mayor in Tussle Over Water Firm
23 Apr 08
Mombasa mayor Ahmed Mohdhar has asked the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to de-link itself from the running of a local water and sewerage company.Under the Water Act of 2005, he said, water services were supposed to be managed by private companies approved by local authorities. A board of directors had not been set up, [...]
Kenya: free water for slum residents
23 Apr 08
The Government will soon provide, at no cost, at least 40 litres of water a day per household in slum areas.The decision was reached following the recent outbreak of cholera in various parts of the country, Water and Irrigation minister Charity Ngilu said.Mrs Ngilu told a news conference: “Water in the slum areas is very [...]
Kenya: Water Set to Cost More As Body Effects New Rules
23 Apr 08
Electricity and water tariffs could rise even further following a decision by the Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA) to impose a new charge on water users - including hydro power producers like KenGen and suppliers of tap water.In the past, companies and individuals have drawn water for free from water sources, but that will have [...]
Kenya: Water crisis as dry conditions persist in the north
21 Apr 08
Serious shortages of water and pasture for livestock are being experienced in the northern Kenyan districts of Isiolo, Mandera and Wajir as dry conditions continue, local leaders said.“The situation is very bad in Mandera; people are moving across the border to Ethiopia,” Mandera East member of parliament Mohamed Hussein Ali told IRIN.[...]Mukhtar Hussein Liban of [...]
Kenya: Wild animals compete with humans for scarce water resources
21 Apr 08
Ahmed Diriye had taken his goats to a stream in Mogogashe near the northern Kenyan town of Garissa and was waiting for them to drink when he was attacked by baboons.“I killed a baboon after they tried to force me from the ‘lagadera’ [stream in Somali],” he said, holding out his bandaged arm. “They were [...]
Maasai warriors ran London marathon for water in Northern Tanzania
11 Apr 08
Six Maasai Warriors from Northern Tanzania, wearing their traditional clothing, beaded jewellery and shoes made from car tyres, ran the London marathon on 13 April 2008. Their goal: raising money to provide their dry and desperate village with clean water. Isaya, the Maasai warrior who is leading the tribe’s marathon attempt, explains: “Our elders told [...]
Sudan: Worsening banditry threatens humanitarian effort in Darfur
28 Mar 08
Relief agencies in Sudan have expressed concerns over an alarming increase in the number of attacks by bandits against people carrying out humanitarian work in the strife-torn region of Darfur, and warned that violence is threatening to disrupt aid delivery to thousands of needy people.On 20 March, four State Water Corporation staff working with UNICEF [...]
Tanzania: Dar in Yet Another Crisis Over Water Contract Turned Sour
20 Mar 08
Local urban water authorities are facing viability problems resulting from lack of funds with some reportedly failing to even pay salaries, let alone provide essential services to residents.Impeccable sources within the authorities revealed to The Citizen in Dar es Salaam during the weeklong water exhibitions that some water bodies were operating way below 50 per [...]
