Kenyans are currently facing a water shortage crisis

Kenyans are currently faced with a water shortage crisis so severe that its government has declared it an emergency. About 90 per cent of the population do not have access to water supply while the remaining 10 per cent cannot enjoy a regular water supply, a situation which is also impacting negatively on the environmental sanitation situation for the region. Mrs Jacqueline Musyoki from the Water Trust Fund said this in an interview with Harriette Naa Lamiley in the Stockholm Water Cube.

So dire is the situation that some residents in Kenya’s capital Nairobi get water supply once a week while a lot more do not get it at all. Kenya’s water problems, according to Mrs Jacqueline Musyoki from the Water Trust Fund, are not just about the lack of infrastructure but also due to the harsh drought being experienced in the country.

“There is no water and there is no food. Electricity is being rationed because the dams are dry. Water is so expensive and people do not even know the sources”, she said. “The cartels selling the water now are so happy because they are making a kill”.

The Kenyan government recognizing the difficult situation that the people find themselves in has come up with some interventions which include the setting up of the Water Trust Fund under the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.The fund was created in 2004 by an act of parliament, two years after the country had undergone a water reform to provide financial support for improved water and sanitation services in the underserved parts of Kenya. Its main objective as Mrs Musyoki puts it is to reach out to the poor communities in need of urgent water supply.

Collaborating with the Water Services Boards, the fund has a responsibility to provide water for the urban poor and rural dwellers but it has yet to make any significant impact since water is still not flowing and this is because the physical structures for water supply have not yet been built. “There are 400 locations with a population of about 20,000 each that need water supply”, Mrs Musyoki said.