Mwea residents fault water authority for water crisis

Residents of Mwea Sub-county in the Lower region of Kirinyaga County are now blaming the Water Resource Management Authority (WARMA) over water shortage in their area.

The residents, who said they acknowledge the fact that there is the shortage of water due to the ongoing drought situation in the country, said WARMA has not taken measures to ensure that the little water from Nyamindi and Thiba rivers is distributed evenly to residents of the county.

It is believed that WARMA has allowed Gichugu Constituency residents, who have the privilege of settling near the sources of the two rivers, to divert the waters of the flowing rivers to their land using furrows, leaving those in the lower region with little or no water, something they feel WARMA should control.

“We don’t have drinking water because WARMA has allowed people at the source to divert water; we drink dirty water once a week,” James Kinyua said.

They are worried because their crops in Mwea are drying up because of inadequate water in the county, which was ranked the most food-secure in December 2014.

“Our crop production in Mwea has greatly reduced. The old are suffering in search of water to far places,” Simon Ndung’u lamented.

They are now urging the authority to intervene swiftly and close over 48 furrows in Gichugu so that the Mwea populace also gets water.

Edited by Michael Majanga