Counties under the Lake Region Economic Bloc have been urged to work closely with potential water partners and put more resources into the software part of the sector to ensure a steady, quality water supply. It is reported that counties have been investing huge resources in the hardware, including pipeline extensions, and doing little on the sources of water. Water does not come from the tap or bottle; it is sourced from rivers, lakes, and dams, so it is high time the protection of these sources is prioritized. Water experts, while addressing participants during the Partnership for Water Security in the Lake Region Economic Bloc conference held in Kisumu, said actors downstream and upstream must be compensated for changing their livelihoods that interfere with the quality of water.
The team noted that there is a need to offer incentives to communities, farmers, and landowners in exchange for managing their lands and resources to provide valuable ecosystems such as water provision, erosion control, and carbon sequestration, among many others.
To achieve the experts' requests, it will require governors to embrace public-private partnerships (PPP). It is through such initiatives that we can complement the government's efforts to address water woes bedeviling the region.
According to Kericho Governor Eric Mutahi, there is a need to protect water sources in a bid to address the soft water part of water strategies. The forum, which was presided over by Governor Mutahi, was attended by Siaya water stakeholders led by County Executive Committee Member for Water, Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources Prof. Jacqueline Oduol. Governor Mutahi said they are turning to public-private partnerships because it is the most viable model that allows them to involve private sector players, international partners, NGOs, and donors in developing crucial water infrastructure.
"I want to ask governors from the Lake Region Economic Bloc to continue working with our partners. We need to explore the model of public-private partnership in an attempt to see if we can push forward the water sector," said Mutahi.
The strategy can work for all of us because, many times, most government-run projects are moribund. A nation is classified as water-scarce if it falls below the threshold of 1,000 cubic meters of renewable freshwater per capita annually. He added that, despite the sensitivity of PPPs in the country, the Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation remains optimistic about their potential to alleviate the water crisis. Kenya’s participation in the voluntary Threshold Challenge, which emerged from the 2023 United Nations Water Week in New York, further highlights the country’s commitment to improving water resources. “Each participating country, including ours, must set its own targets for wetland and river recovery,” said Mutahi. He added that the initiative, aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) on clean water and sanitation, aims to recover 800,000 hectares of wetlands and restore 352,000 kilometers of rivers globally.
“We must demonstrate that we have recovered specific wetlands or restored particular stretches of rivers, with clear data on the area and volume restored,” he added. He also called for a review of water policies so that governors can have a say in the bodies that manage water in counties.
"We also have a serious challenge with the bodies that manage water in the counties," said Mutahi, adding that nearly all water bodies in the LREB face serious challenges in water management. Some are almost in decline or isolation, so we need to look into policies and laws so that we have a say in these institutions in order to have seamless relations. We believe that if we are not part of them, we will walk into more problems," said Mutahi.
Kisumu Deputy Governor Mathews Owili, LREB CEO Victor Nyagaya, Siaya Director of Water Henry Juma, and Siaya Bondo Water and Sanitation Company Managing Director Isaiah Adipo were part of the meeting, which was also attended by Siaya County Assembly Chairperson of Water Committee Justus Oguta.