Water
Makueni, World Vision Partnership to Quench Kalawa Ward
Kalawa ward is arguably one of the driest parts of Makueni county, perpetually battling water scarcities.
On a normal day, residents have to trek a considerable distance to fetch water from points that the county government has continued to develop across the expansive ward.
A partnership between the county government and World Vision is however projected to change the above scenario and make the ward one of the water secure wards in the county.
The two institutions are co-funding a project dubbed Athi-Kalawa Sanitation Project meant to distribute water to 80 % of the ward area.
The project involves pumping water from Athi River to Wii hills, construction of a treatment plant, construction of a 500 cubic meters reservoir and three distribution lines (Kalawa, Miangeni and Syotuvali) for communal water circulation.
World Vision national director Lilian Dodzo who paid a courtesy call to governor Kivutha Kibwana on Tuesday, to discuss the project progress, said the project purposes to cut the distance to the nearest water point from households to a maximum of 500 meters.
According to County Executive Committee member for Water and Sanitation Rosemary Maundu, the project is 30 percent done and phase 1 must be complete before end of the year 2020.
Kaunguni residents urge government to prioritize water projects
Over 500 Residents of Kaunguni – Muuni Sub- Ward in Nguumo Ward have unanimously prioritized and proposed a mega Water project in a bid to enhance agricultural and livestock productivity for improved livelihoods in their area.
In a public participation forum on Thursday presided by Makueni Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau and attended by Gender and Trade Executives Godfrey Makau and Sebastian Kyoni respectively and a section of Makueni County Assembly members led by MCA Alfred Mutuku, the residents identified water scarcity as the major challenge.
They said if the right interventions are put in place then the problem would be resolved and water network widened to reach many who lack access today.
Further they lauded the department of health services as the best performing in the county for implementation of the universal health care that has seen the county citizenry access medical services at no cost.
“The department of health is leading in the county because we are being treated for free in our facilities. We urge the other department to step so that we can grow together in every sector in our county, ” said Mutua Masai, a representative from Kaunguni-East cluster.
The DG said: “Like I have said in other forums, we are focusing on mega projects that can impact a larger population. This is what we are calling the paradigm shift.”
Makueni water agenda on course
Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Monday commissioned two water projects in his bid to curb the perennial water scarcity in the county.
A 52,472 cubic metres Kimundi earth dam which serves a population of 7000 Kithuki/Kitise residents was the first to be commissioned followed by the Kikumini borehole with a yielding capacity of 9.5 cubic metres per hour.
The Kikumini bore hole is scheduled to supply water to Kikumini dispensary, Makueni CTTI and Kikumini market targeting a population of about 3000 residents.
Speaking to residents while commissioning the projects, governor Kibwana emphasized on cost effective and people centered development.
Kibwana commended the good work by project management committees across the county for supervising delivery of quality workmanship by contractors.
We are ready to launch Thwake – CS Chelugui
Cabinet Secretary for Water and Sanitation Simon Chelugui now says the government is ready for the ground breaking for construction of Thwake dam.
During a consultative leaders” meeting on implementation of Thwake dam project held at Ole Sereni hotel, Nairobi, Tuesday, Chelugui said, “We have established working relations among all the stakeholders and are ready for ground breaking any time from now.”
The Cabinet Secretary said all the pending issues standing in the way of the project’s launch are being cleared to pave way for commencement of construction works.
One of the thorny challenges is compensation of a section of Project Affected Persons, which Chelugui says will be cleared in the next three weeks.
The meeting was attended by leaders from Makueni, Kitui, Machakos, representatives of those affected by the project, top leardership of the Water and Sanitation ministry as well as the contractor and and engineering consultants.
Governor Kibwana said leaders from the three counties have resolved to sensitise locals to fully accept and own the project and also to take advantage of the available job opportunities, including subcontracts.
According to the project engineer Sao Alima, Sh 11 Billion will be spend on subcontracts, which he said will benefit locals.
Makueni and Kitui will also benefit from Sh 30 million for schools improvement and Sh 50 million for community health facilities as part of the contractor’s Corporate Social Responsibility around the project area.
Government releases Ksh 3.5 billion to fund Thwake dam project: Ruto
The government last week released Sh 3.5 billion to finance the construction of Thwake dam Deputy President William Ruto said on Monday.
The money released by the government is part of the Sh 63 billion budget for the construction of the dam, a major investment by the National Government in the county.
“Last week the government released Sh 3.5 billion for the Thwake dam project and President Kenyatta will soon be here to officially launch it,”Mr Ruto said.
He was speaking during the official launch of the International Youth Week at the ATC Kwa Kathoka in Makueni where he told the residents that the Jubilee government has major plans for the county.
The DP was accompanied by Makueni Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana, Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau, Public Service,Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia and her Sports counterpart Rashid Achesa.
Makueni County, the DP said was at the center of the Jubilee government’s development plans.
He took time to explain the Jubilee government’s agenda four programs adding that towns in rural areas will benefit greatly from the initiative that includes a multibillion housing plan meant to improve shelter in the country.
He said young people are key to the country’s future and that the Jubilee government has decided to invest in their education and manpower development.
“We need safe spaces in our colleges.I am happy am talking to our people here who are college students,” he said.
He said plans have been put in place to give Sh 30,000 bursary to technical college students while Tvet college scholars will be allowed access to Higher Education Loans Board loans of not more than Sh 40,000 annually.
Prof Kibwana hailed the DP for having found time to grace the youth event in Makueni adding the locals are now ready to work with the government through the handshake initiative to realize tangible development.
“We are happy Mr DP for having found time to grace this event.As the people of Makueni we are now ready to work with the government.This handshake has deradicalised us,” the governor said.
He said his government had come up with a youth led initiative- the Makueni Youth Empowerment Service (M-YES) to help create opportunities for the over 350,000 young people in the county.
Prof Kobia said that the youth had become a global agenda and that her ministry will roll out plans to ensure issues affecting the young people economically and socially are dealt with.
“The theme for this year’s youth week is safe spaces for the youth and we ask ourselves to what extent are we creating safe spaces for the youth.How do we empower the youth to be able to do what they are able to do,” the CS said.
Clean Water for Wote
Wote town is now almost water secure after the commissioning of two water treatment plants for the town, one constructed by the Government of Makueni County and the other by the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).
The two plants, commissioned on Wednesday by Governor Kivutha Kibwana and Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Gullet, have an output capacity of 90 cubic meters of water per hour, but with an installed pumping capacity of 70 cubic meters per hour.
Water executive committee member Robert Kisyula has said the installation will be able to pump for 20 hours a day, guaranteeing Wote residents 1,400 cubic meters of clean water.
With Mwaani bore hole producing 400 cubic meters per day, the total water supply to Wote town is currently 1,800 cubic meters, he says.
Mr. Gullet has announced that the Kenya Red Cross Society will donate its plant to the county government even though it was supposed to be a temporary measure to address the water crisis which hit Wote town after breaching of Kamunyolo dam and collapse of the Kaiti sump roof slab.
Governor Kibwana said his administrastion has besides the above projects put in place other short term and long term measures to ensure sustained supply of sufficient and potable water for Wote town in line with the county’s Vision 2025 and CIDP 2018-2022.
The short term measures include repair and reconstruction of Kaiti sand dam with collection galleries and increasing height of the weir by one meter. This, he said, will give more than 1400m³/day.
Other measures include piping water from Kitikyumu borehole (with a yield of 20M³/hr) to Makueni boys tanks and distributed to wote town. This source is expected to inject 400m³/day into the supply network. The project shall be implemented within 30 days from commencement.
The long-term measures according to Governor Kibwana include: Completion of Kaiti/Kamunyii water project which is a sump funded by the national government through TANATHI. This is expected to produce at least 800m³ per day.
Reconstruction of Kamunyolo earth dam plus the treatment works and extra clear water tank of 400m³.
Construction of Kiia Nzou mega dam along Kaiti river in Kee Ward, which will be expected to produce over 2,000M³/day and flow by gravity to Wote town. Design and fundraising for the same is being done jointly with Kenya Red Cross Society with a proposed budget of Ksh1.0B. The same dam will also provide water for the four Wards of Kaiti Subcounty namely Kee, Ilima, Kilungu and Ukia.
The Thwake multipurpose dam once constructed is expected to supply more than 2000M³/day of water per day to Wote town.
Governor Kibwana said supply to Wote town and its environs will hit close to 7000M3/day, which will be able to meet the projected growth and water demand by 2025 and beyond once all these projects are up and running.
Wote Water Supply Restored after Flooding Crisis
The water supply to Wote town has been restored courtesy of a partnership between the county government and the Kenya Red Cross Society.
The town was thrown into a crisis after Kaiti sump and Kamunyolo dam, the two major sources of water to the town were swept away and damaged by raging floods.
The county government put up an emergency request to KRCS, which moved with speed and installed water pumping and purification equipment besides the county government’s treatment plant, whose sump was damaged.
According to Water and irrigation Chief Officer Martin Kitavi, the two installations are now able to supply 1,400 cubic meters of water to the distribution system, pumped within 20 hours a day.
Kitavi said Mwaani bore hole, another water source, is able to supply 400 cubic meters, bringing the total output to the town’s water supply system to 1,800 cubic meters daily.
Governor Kivutha Kibwana toured the project on Monday to inspect its progress before its official commissioning by KRCS Secretary General Abbas Gullet on Wednesday.
Water Committees to be Dissolved: Kisyula
Water Committees to be Dissolved
Water committees in Makueni County will be dissolved and new ones reconstituted to ensure efficiency in the management of the critical water sector in the county Water Executive Committee Member Robert Kisyula has said.
Mr Kisyula said that his department was keen to oversee an efficient water sector adding that supply of water to Makueni County residents is top priority issue in the county government.
“We are going to dissolve all the water committees in Makueni and reconstitute new ones. We have a very high target set in the water sector which we must meet,” the ECM said.
He was speaking in Mombasa where county officials met Secondary school head teachers during this year’s Kessha Conference for Makueni Chapter held at the Travellers Beach Resort.
Mr Kisyula urged secondary schools heads to partner with the county government to achieve the water agenda.
The ECM said that institutions should harvest rain water from roofs to make sure that all public and private institutions have sufficient potable water.
“If every school in Makueni had tanks to harvest the water that runs during rainy seasons, the shortage of water in schools and nearby communities would be a thing of the past,” the ECM said.
Rain water harvesting according to Mr Kisyula is one of the game changers in making another Makueni possible where every household has sufficient potable water for domestic use in order to stop the “ fetching water ideology” in the county.
“Since we were kids, we were taught that water is fetched. We wait for the rain to pour down for a whole night then the following morning we follow it to the rivers when it is already contaminated,” he explained.
He further added that every household in the county is capable of becoming food secure and economically empowered by adopting the “1 acre rule” initiative.
Makueni County has since the wake of devolution done several dams and sand dams as well as drilled boreholes and collaborated with various development partners through the Billion Dollar Business Alliance to ensure that all households have access to clean water.
He further challenged the heads to set good examples in the villages by installing at least two 100M3 water tanks in their homesteads, adding that it will ensure availability of potable water supply for domestic use for a whole year.
Kessha Makueni Chapter chairman Julius Mutwii who was the host said teachers are appreciating the support given by the county government including sponsorship of various teachers projects including scholarships to students.
“We are very happy with progress being made by our county. Infact the whole country is talking about Makueni.And they are doing so positively, ” said Mr Mutwii.
Other top government officials who graced the KESSHA conference included the deputy governor Adelina Mwau, county secretary Paul Wasanga, CEC, Roads, transport and energy, Engineer Sebastian Kyoni and CEC for Education and ICT, Dr. Naomi Makau.