Residents of Kubi Dibayu in Sagante Jaldesa ward as they witnessed the successful drilling of boreholes in their area.
Marsabit county-funded boreholes will provide a lifeline to water-deprived communities.
Prior to the drilling of boreholes, residents used to face a profound lack of access to safe water for household usage and their livestock.
Residents used to share a pond of water with their animals.
For many decades, most parts of the Saku sub-county have grappled with water scarcity that prompted people to migrate from their homes in search of the commodity.
The most affected are pastoralist communities who must walk more than 40 km to find water for domestic use.
The water project was part of Governor Mohamud Ali's pledges to the area as a strategy for pacifying pastoralist communities by increasing the capacity of the existing water infrastructure and helping reduce competition for the precious resource.
The new borehole came at a time when the county government has stepped up operation and maintenance initiatives to restore broken-down boreholes to normal operations amid the biting drought that has persisted for the last 5 years.
Speaking at the site, Sagante Jaldesa ward MCA Amos Wako said clean water is not negotiable, but a necessity that every home must enjoy.
"Residents have to fetch water from dams which sometimes polluted or have to part with huge sums of money on daily basis to buy clean water," he said
Wako said the hydrological survey revealed the availability of sufficient water resources from two locations.
The drilling of the first one, he said, was for rapid response as the other site was marked for the next drilling.
He said the new borehole and more to be sunk will go a long way in improving the community's access to clean water and help in reducing outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
Wako admitted that water shortages had affected farming, learning and livestock rearing, noting that the drilling programme would address that.
"Water scarcity had even affected the quality of education because the students had to drop out of the school to search for water, but the new borehole will resolve that," he said
He asked the local NGOs to chip in and assist the residents with pipes so that the water could be piped to their villages.
Sagante Jaldesa ward MCA has promised to work with everyone including his political nemesis for the sake of development, urging leaders to leave politics and instead focus on development.
The MCA told residents that he has a plan for irrigation in the area and will partner with well-wishers to overcome challenges brought by drought.
Community elder Did Wako, a resident of Kubi Dibayu, said they have suffered long distances searching for water.
"We thank the county government and our MCA Amos because the new borehole will end our suffering and that of our children," he said
" We shall now engage in agro-farming as we seek more donors to help us with pipes so that the water can get closer to our homes," said Dida
He said the availability of water in their village will bring convenience to women since they spend more time searching for water.
"The successful drilling of this borehole will help us because now we are able to focus on other household chores," he added
Guyo Arero, a resident of Dibayu said water scarcity had also affected education as children were sent to fetch water in distant places and often ended up missing classes.
"This borehole will shorten the distance people take to get safe clean water," he said
A mother of five children Diramu Diba expressed pleasure towards the ward representative for what she called bringing joy to their area.
"I am giving thanks to our MCA for drilling this borehole. We are facing water challenges for decades but with his intervention, we are hopeful that the challenges will be a thing of the past," she said
She also expressed her gratitude to the county government for the swift action to make sure that they get a new water point and save them from the agony of walking long distances.
"We never imagined a day when we would have fresh water in our village. We are very grateful and hope a day will come when we will have water in our houses."
The county government of Marsabit has pumped millions of money into expanding the water supply to areas affected by drought by drilling more than 150 boreholes across the county.
The CECM Water Mr Adan Kanano hinted that the department was working with partners to prioritize the delivery of the water promise to the residents of Marsabit county.
"As a strategy, we have adopted a structural approach to water delivery in line with Governor Mohamud's agenda for the residents. New water infrastructure will be strategically developed as routine maintenance of existing infrastructure to restore their functionality," said Kanano.
