KENYA: in Kiptogot-Kolongolo, an AEP provides 200,000 people with drinking water

02 02 2024 | 05:55Inès Magoum / AFRIK21

After Nyandarua County, where the President of the Republic of Kenya, William Samoei Ruto, inaugurated a sewage system on January 11, 2024, the authority of the East African country has set its sights on Trans-Nzoia County, where it has just launched the new Kiptogot-Kolongolo drinking water supply system (AEP). The system supplies some 200,000 people.

As part of the Kenya Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Program (KTSWSSP), the Kiptogot-Kolongolo drinking water supply system, located in Endebbes sub-county, Trans-Nzoia county, was finally inaugurated on January 17, 2024. Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto presided over the inauguration ceremony. He was accompanied by a number of VIPs and officials, including those from the Central Rift Valley Water Works Development Agency (CRVWWDA), the implementing agency for the drinking water project.

According to the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, the new Kiptogot-Kolongolo PEA covers an area of 73 km. It comprises seven reservoirs with a combined storage capacity of 2,900 m3. The drinking water passes through 170 km of pipework before reaching households. The areas served by the project include the sub-counties of Kwanza and Endebbes, both in Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia county.

An investment of 9.3 million euros

In all, 200,000 people will benefit from the Kiptogot-Kolongolo drinking water project until 2040. The entire project cost the government of the East African country 1.5 billion Kenyan shillings (just under $9.3 million).

“According to the plan, the last-mile connection will serve 5,000 new customers with 52 water kiosks. We have already secured 400 million Kenyan shillings (almost $2.5 million) to complete the one-kilometer connection, and are seeking 1.1 billion Kenyan shillings (around $7 million) to extend drinking water coverage to the whole of Trans-Nzoia County,” says the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation.

According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 72.68% of households have access to at least a basic drinking water service in Trans-Nzoia County, one of the 47 counties created in 2010, following the promulgation of Kenya’s new constitution.

Cover photo: By AFRIK21

GHJKL