An acute water shortage has hit parts of Narok town and its environs amid the Coronavirus pandemic in the country due to alleged break down of some equipment and pipes owing to some ongoing road construction works going on in some parts.
Following the shortage, the residents and traders have been forced to dig deeper into their pockets and travel longer distances in search of water or rely on water buzzers who also charge exorbitantly for the commodity.
Some of the most affected Estates include; Majengo, Osotua and London where residents say that they have gone for weeks with very little or no water at all flowing in their taps.
According to, Joyce Muthoni, a resident of Osotua who owns a salon within the area, they have been forced to go for a month without water and fears that the situation would worsen if the Narok Water and Sewerage Company (NAWASCO) does not intervene.
She said that it has become difficult to uphold personal and household hygiene at this time of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The situation has also affected her business, as she also relies on a steady water supply to function, forcing her customers to seek hairdressing and other beauty services elsewhere.
Lucy Nyawera, also a resident of Narok and a mother, said that she has been forced to wake up as early at 5:00 am to go and fetch water from private vendors who were now selling it at an inflated price.
She said with children in the house after schools closed in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic, water consumption in the household has gone up and lamented that she was forced to spend the little money she is making from her business to buy water and this has immensely affected her household budget.
Patrick Ruhiu, a bodaboda rider, said that he has been forced to adjust his working schedule and instead fetch water for his family.
Ruhiu says he has been spending part of the mornings looking for water at water selling kiosks and water vendors but all watering points in his area have been closed.
Bishop Mbugua, also a resident of Majengo area and a butchery owner, says that the water shortage has affected his business as it has become difficult to maintain general hygiene as required by the Ministry of Health guidelines, during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He is now urging the relevant authorities to urgently intervene in the matter before it escalates into a crisis with the area.
Efforts to reach the Narok Water and Sewerage Company Director, Stanley Kuyoni, were futile as we made several visits to his office but he was not available while our phone calls to him also went unanswered.
A source at the Narok Water and Sewerage Company (NAWASCO) office who declined to be named said the problem has persisted for the last two weeks and they were trying to repair the broken equipment and pipes.
But there seemed to be a deeper problem in the water supply as residents claimed the shortage was caused by unscrupulous people at NAWASCO who allegedly own water buzzers in the town or get a bribes from the water buzzers and some vendors thus occasioning the shortage so that they could make a kill.
In April this year after the onset of the Covid-19, Mr. Kuyoni had also lamented about accumulated water bills amounting to millions of shillings which has not been paid by residents and organizations in the area due to economic strain caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. This too might be contributing to difficulty in service delivery at NAWASCO.
In 2016, Japan International Cooperation Agencies (JICA) completed a mega water project in the town that has been supplying water to over 540, 000 people in the town and was expected to ease perennial water shortage in Narok town by supplying an additional 4,000 cubic metres of water to the residents .
By Mabel Keya –Shikuku