County News
Wajir town is experiencing worst water crisis in recorded history
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“It has became hard to provide for my family now because the wells have run dry,” the 45-year old father says.
Town resident blame county government for taking long to address the situation.
He blamed two water companies in the town for his woes. “They came with big machineries and depleted the water resource in the town. They have taken away our jobs,” a frustrated Ibrahim observed.
Wajir has not experienced such a crisis in recent history. Even during the severe 2010/11 drought, the historic Orahey wells served as the only reliable water source in the NFD region.
We went to check whether the water companies were actually the cause of the crisis.
We visited Glacier Water Company in the north of the town. There we met with Water Engineer Josiah Keter. He is the man in charge of the main plant. We asked the problem and if the rumours doing round were true.
He denied the claims, saying they draw their water from a shallow well of 23 feet and run on a daily production of 20,000/cubicles.
“People out there believe that we have a rig here. Its false,” he said.
Mr. Keter instead blamed the expansion of the town and a growing population as well as a number of massive construction projects that are ongoing, among them the 28-km tarmac within the town, to be the cause of the crisis.
True to his word, the town has significantly expanded in the last three years with permanent buildings coming up where once stood Somali huts.
“The construction of a tarmac road requires a considerable amount of water in order to achieve a successful project,” Engineer Keter said.
The water crisis has since turned into an emotional subject laced with fear since Wajir has no any other water source to turn to.
During a water crisis conference in Wajir, governor Ahmed Abdullahi warned his political rivals against using the subject to settle scores.
“We are doing research to look for other means of dealing with the crisis,” the governor said.
But the town residents blame his government for taking long to address the situation.
As the county leaders continue engaging with experts in a bid to address the crisis, families like that of Ibrahim will continue to suffer.
