Mandera records improvement in clean water access — officials

Mandera Deputy Governor Ali Maalim speaking in Mandera town./FILE

Access to clean, safe and sustainable water has improved in Mandera over the past year from 54 to 56 per cent, Deputy governor Ali Maalim has said.

Speaking on Monday, Maalim attributed the increase to several targeted interventions, including: Rehabilitation and desilting of 30 earth pans and extension of 350 kilometres of water pipelines.

This he noted has brought clean water access to an additional 15,000 households across the county.

Equipping of 25 rural water projects have been implemented for sustainability.

“As we speak, we have over 200 rural water schemes now serving approximately 60 per cent of the county population. We have also constructed 60 underground storage tanks at strategic locations, to ensure consistent water availability during drought emergencies,” he said.

Maalim said the county has also developed 25 water pans with varying capacities, to strengthen rainwater harvesting and improve resilience against drought conditions.

Speaking in Mandera town, the deputy governor said the Mohamed Khalif-led administration is committed to ensuring all settlements in the county have access to clean water.

To enhance the efficiency of water infrastructure planning and development, Maalim said the county acquired advanced equipment for groundwater exploration.

He said 80 hydrological surveys were conducted, leading to the successful drilling of the Eres Kore, Sukella Ulo, Burdurus, Qurac Muthow, Gambella, Funan Teso, Kiliwehiri, Birkan, Elram, Derkhale, Karo, Arabia, Tarama, Burmayo, Dadach Ulo and Kob Adadi boreholes.

In response to severe water shortages during the drought period, he said the county deployed 86 water bowsers to deliver water trucking services to 623 centers with 80,000 households benefiting.

In his third annual state of the county address, Khalif said provision of quality clean water across the county remains one of his priority areas under his administration.

He said the sector had in the 2024-25 FY received Sh6.16 billion allocation representing 15 per cent of the total budget noting that the county has remained resolute in its commitment in improving water accessibility through well coordinated interventions and strategic partnership.

“We all know that water is life, it is everything that sustains life itself. And so my administration is determined to ensure we cover all corners of our county as we seek to alleviate the suffering of our largely pastoralists community who have for decades been forced to walk for long distances in search of this precious commodity,” he said.

As part of our long-term strategy to address water shortages, the county organised a donor round-table meeting for the Takaba Water Supply Master Plan, a  25-year project that  aims to: Drill new boreholes and rehabilitate existing ones .