Kisii Woman representative Donya Toto has decried the abysmally low water connectivity in select counties in the country terming it a grave injustice.
With the staggering disparities in connectivity, Toto now wants action be taken to repair the situation.
She said the disparity is a product of a political pattern of skewed allocated of resources.
“It pains that several years since we attained independence, other counties including Kisii are yet to enjoy piped water at their homes. This is unacceptable and should change,” she observed.
Most Counties in Central and at the Coast continue to enjoy fairly better accessibility to water than many other devolved units in Western Kenya.
“For us to help women and young girls in the villages,the country should be more intentional in ensuring this commodity is within their reach,” she said.
Toto was speaking at Getunwa area in Bobaracho, Kisii where she inaugurated a borehole.
The move to construct the borehole in the area, she said, was aimed at addressing longstanding commodity shortages in the locality.
The initiative is expected to provide clean and reliable water to more than 300 residents across Bobaracho area in Nyaribari Chache Constituency.
Piping, she added, would be done by the County administration.
“With the resources provided under National Government Affirmative Fund,the much I can do is to sink the borehole and reticulation and piping be done by the Governor,” Toto stated.
Toto said improving water accessibility remains the core mandate of the County governments.
“As women reps we only provide small support and that is why I refer our people to press for this right at the devolved unit,” she told the locals who turned up to witness the launching of the borehole project.
She emphasized the project’s importance in promoting public health, and economic development.
“Access to clean water is a basic human right Today, we take a major step toward ensuring that every household has the water they need to thrive,” she stressed.
She asked the local provincial administration to make sure the projects are protected from vandals.
Local leaders among them Bobaracho Ward MCA Ibrahim Ongubo and other community members welcomed the development.
Ongubo especially praised the Toto’s commitment to improve accessibility to water by Kisii County residents.
“This project will change lives and especially reduce time our daughter waste in looking for it downstream,” he said.
At least nine similar boreholes have been by the police office of the Woman Rep since she entered office.
Water connectivity in Kisii County remains a significant challenge, with less than 10 percent of households having access to piped water.
Approximately 60 percent of residents rely on river water, while 20 percent depend on springs for their daily water needs.
In Kisii Town, a staggering 75 percent of residents are not connected to piped water and often use untreated water from protected and unprotected sources.
A 2019 study found that 74.6 percent of households did not treat their drinking water, raising concerns about waterborne diseases .
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