The Murang’a governor, Mwangi Wa Iria has said local residents needs to be connected with clean water from Ndakaini dam.
Wa Iria has argued that people of the county are not lesser to be supplied with borehole water as residents of Nairobi continue enjoying clean and fresh water from Ndakaini dam which is located in Murang’a.
The governor accused water Principal Secretary (PS), Joseph Wairagu of spearheading digging of boreholes even to residents who neighbour the dam instead of facilitating local people get part of the water from Ndakaini.
“Murang’a residents are not lesser to be supplied with saline borehole water whilst people in Nairobi city enjoy clean fresh water from Ndakaini,” said Wa Iria on Tuesday at Kenol Town.
The county, he said, has several permanent rivers, wondering why the water ministry opts to give local residents borehole water instead of connecting them with water from rivers.
The promise by the government to provide water to residents in appreciation of construction of Northern Water Collector Tunnel, the governor said has not yet materialized.
A week ago, PS Wairagu toured parts of Gatanga Sub County to inspect ongoing water projects being implemented by the national government.
Among the projects Wairagu visited included boreholes drilled to provide section of residents with water, a move the county governor is against.
“The Water PS is against the request by the county government to get part of revenue of the water supplied to Nairobi and now instead of supporting people of Murang’a get clean water he is now drilling boreholes which can give saline water and just for few people,” said Wa Iria.
He said the Northern Water Tunnel Collector which is at 80 percent completion is meant to increase water supply to Nairobi yet local residents lack water for domestic use.
“My fight is to see my people also benefit from water from the county which is one of major natural resources endowed to the county. We should not be left to drink salty borehole water as our neighbours in Nairobi enjoy fresh water from a dam located in our county,” pointed out the governor.
He threatened to sue the water PS for what he termed as being against efforts to ensure county residents gets water from Ndakaini dam.
The governor also accused the PS for campaigning for 2022 general elections using water projects initiated by national government.
Wairagu dismissed claims that he is campaigning with water projects saying the initiatives are by the national government to ensure big a percentage of Murang’a residents are connected with water.
The Ndakaini dam located in Gatanga is the main water reservoir for Nairobi County and its environs.
The government is doing a water collector tunnel which will draw water from rivers Maragua, Gikie and Irati to increase water volume in the dam.
By Bernard Munyao
