The process of transferring the management of Maragua Dam to Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company (Muwasco) has commenced.
This comes after President William Ruto’s directive that the 800,000-cubic-metre dam be managed by Muwasco and not Murang’a South Water and Sanitation Company (Muswasco).
On Monday, officials of Muwasco and those of Muswasco, in a forum held at the dam’s treatment plant, agreed to conclude the transfer of management within a period of two weeks.
Customers, equipment, and other services will be put under Muwasco with a target to increase water coverage in the drier Maragua Sub County.
Murang’a County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Water Mary Magochi expressed optimism that the transfer process will be smooth, saying this will pave the way for Muwasco to start increasing water connections to people in lower Maragua.
She noted Muwasco has the capacity to distribute water from the dam that was completed in 2022 to more than 20,000 households in the Maragua area.
“We have moved to adhere to the president’s directive, and today we have commenced the process to transfer the management of the dam to the new service provider. We are hopeful this will be done smoothly and in as short a period as possible to allow Muwasco to start distributing water to local residents,” added Magochi.
The CECM stated water coverage at Maragua Sub County is below 30 per cent, and thus Muwasco will have to increase connections to local homesteads.
“One of the agendas in the Governor Irungu Kang’ata manifesto is to attain universal water coverage in a period of five years, and we are facilitating local water firms to work towards attaining 100 per cent coverage.” She observed.
During his visit to Murang’a County on Thursday, President Ruto directed the dam that was constructed at a cost of Sh1 billion to be managed by Muwasco.
After the dam’s completion, the two water firms went into wrangles over who was to manage the facility.
The president’s directive ended the wrangles and gave way for the people of Maragua to benefit from the dam, which has a capacity to supply 15, 000 cubic metres of water on a daily basis.
Managing Director of Muswasco Mary Nyagah said her firm is ready to hand over the facility to Muwasco, saying her company had managed the dam for two years.
“The process of handover has started, and we are looking at all technicalities to ensure a successful transfer of the facility.
“The dam has been serving areas of Maragua town, summer, Kambiti, and Maragua Ridge, among others.” She added.
On his part, Muwasco Managing Director Eng. Daniel Ng’ang’a said that with the help of the county administration, they will embark on increasing water coverage in Maragua subcounty.
He noted that they have written to the Water Services Regulatory Board (Wasreb) so as to factor in the directive of the President.
“Once Muwasco gets authority from Wasreb, we will embark on supplying the whole Maragua with water. This includes major trading centres like Kenol, Saba Saba, Kamahuha, and the fast-growing areas along the Kenol-Sagana dual carriage,” he added.
Nginda MCA John Mwangi said the whole of his ward needs to be put under Muwasco, saying Muswasco has been unable to offer services to residents effectively.
“Transferring management of this dam to Muwasco is a noble move. And my hope is to see the whole Nginda ward supplied with water by Muwasco. This will reduce the area covered by Muswasco, which has been serving three subcounties.” He noted.
Mwangi continued, “The whole of Maragua should also be put under Muwasco’s area of jurisdiction. The firm currently serves only two wards, whereas, Muswasco was serving three subcounties with more than 15 wards.”
By Bernard Munyao
