Residents of Isiolo County are set to soon benefit from increased access to and improved water provision from the county’s water and sewerage company (IWASCO).
This follows a commitment from the company’s Managing Director, Board Chairman as well as other staff during the launch of the company’s Strategic Plan 2019-2023 and Business Plan covering the same period.
“We have been facing a huge challenge as a company in the consistent provision of clean and safe water to our customers due to the reduction of raw water for production from River Ewaso Nyiro. This has been caused by recent climatic changes,” said Mr Abdullahi Sora, the IWASCO Managing Director.
“Through our partnerships with the County Government of Isiolo and our developmental partners, we plan to drill more boreholes in order to supplement the water we are currently receiving from this river and the existing 14 boreholes in the county,” he added.
Speaking during the same event, the Isiolo County Executive Committee Member for Water, Mr Abdi Haji Daud, reaffirmed the county’s commitment to supporting the initiatives laid out in the new strategic plan. He confirmed that there was funding allocation in the current financial period for the drilling of two boreholes in the county.
The public event which was held on the streets of Isiolo town, allowed the residents of the county to interact with the water utility and listen in to the commitments they made.
As a sign of good faith to the targets set in the new strategic plan, the Isiolo Water and Sewerage Company launched ambitious targets for the next 100 days. These five targets are aimed at kick-starting their delivery of the promises contained in their five-year Strategic Plan.
“Within the next 100 days, you should expect to see staff from Isiolo Water Company coming to pitch tents in all the nine zones in the county, as we strive to bring services closer to the people,” said Mr Sora. “We shall all close the office here in town and come to where you are, as part of our targets for the next 100-days.”
The company also highlighted its plans of expanding its piped water network to cover the Mwangaza area with over 500 metered connections within the next one year.
Isiolo Water and Sewerage Company was recently crowned the best water utility in Kenya, out of the 88 existing ones, in customer care by the Water Services Regulatory Board, during the launch of the recent Impact Report.
Our Work in the Water Sector
Access to water and sanitation services was identified as a basic human right by the United Nations General Assembly on July 28, 2010. This right is also backed by the Kenyan constitution and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As such, water utility companies play a pivotal role in providing this basic human right to the populations they serve.
Through funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Gatsby Africa, Kenya Markets Trust works with water service providers to improve their efficiency and service delivery, creating value for the organisations and the populations they serve.