Access to clean water in Elgeyo Marakwet County is set for a major improvement. This is after the county signed an MoU with the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority.
According to Governor Wisely Rotich, the MoU establishes a working relationship towards enhancing water harvesting and storage in the county.
“The MoU also outlines how water harvesting and storage will help mitigate violence in water-scarce areas, especially in the Kerio Valley, where it often triggers conflicts,” the governor said.
In the agreement, the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority will support Elgeyo Marakwet County in drilling and rehabilitating dams.

“This will see an increase in water provision for domestic use and small-scale irrigation, thereby improving their household earnings and food production,” said the county boss.
With the new partnership, the county anticipates that in the next three and half years, it will have sunk more than 100 boreholes across the County in schools (primary, secondary as well as tertiary institutions).
In turn, the boreholes would help improve water provision which currently stands at 38 per cent in the county against a national average of 56 per cent.

National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority chairperson Symon Maina and Elgeyo Marakwet County Executive Committee Member (CECM) Jason Lagat also witnessed the MoU signing.
The authority is mandated to provide sub-sector vision, strategic goals, objectives and strategies to guide the medium-term (5-year period) achievements in water harvesting and storage in the public sector and domestic level in line with national water policies for water harvesting and storage.