How Sonko earned World Bank’s trust to help Nairobi fix water problem
The politics around the project dragged everything until after the 2017 elections
The full completion of the Northern Water Collection tunnel has been received as good news by the majority of Nairobi city residents who have suffered decades of water shortages.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on Monday announced that the project was complete with engineers doing the final stages before the water is distributed for consumption in Nairobi.
The governor who visited Murang’a County accompanied by officials from the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) said once the final quality and content tests on the water are confirmed it will be released to the county’s distribution network.
The development is massive to the county’s efforts to meet its water supply demand that is rising steadily. The demand as of now stands at 900 million litres with the county only managing around 525 million litres.
The county will now enjoy an additional 140 million litres of water from the Northern Water Collector Tunnel.
The history of the World Bank sponsored project dates back to 2016 when President Uhuru Kenyatta in conjunction with the county through NWSC sealed the deal.
The project would then be opposed by ODM leader Raila Odinga who claimed it will lead to serious environmental degradation in 5 counties. Mr. Odinga termed the project a ridiculous Jubilee initiative that would turn Murang’a,Tana River Delta,Garissa and Ukambani regions into deserts.
The politics around the project dragged everything until after the 2017 elections that saw Mike Mbuvi Sonko elected Nairobi governor.
Sonko who had just served as a senator had listed water shortage as one of his biggest concerns for Nairo residents. He would later call on President Uhuru Kenyatta to help in fastracking the project which was agains attracting resistance from central Kenya leaders led by former Murang’a governor Mwangi Wa Iria.
At this stage, the World Bank was already having issues with various government agencies and county governments over stalled projects and slow pace of projects under its sponsorship.
Sonko called for unconditional collaboration amongst Nairobi,Kiambu and Murang’a counties to ensure the Northern Water Collection Tunnel is done and completed within the stipulated time.
He would then roll out a comprehensive plan to ensure steady supply of water in the city in a separate partnership with the World Bank and the African Development Bank aimed at reducing the 250,000 cubic meters water deficit.
The partnership was about installation of a water pipeline from Kiambu County to supply water to Nairobi.The water was to be stored in a 14-million-litre tank in Embakasi Garrison barracks.
In 2019,the county allocated Athi Water and Nairobi Water companies Sh50 million each to improve water supply within city estates as well as align the companies’ programs to accommodate projected distribution networks once the Northern Collector is complete.
The project was slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic that ravaged the global economic chain with Kenya among the hard-hit nations in Africa.
However, Sonko’s administration had earned maximum trust from the World Bank which officially handed two state-of-the-art fire stations to the county. The two are Kangundo and Waithaka Fire stations.
The World Bank has at the same time agreed to do a water channel from Kabete to Nairobi’s South C estate through the NWSC.
It was during his time that the World Bank signed a Sh9 billion deal with the Kenyan government for implementation of five light rail projects.
When contacted,Sonko called on Governor Sakaja to block cartels from taking over distribution of water following the completion of the Northern Water Collector Tunnel.
“ Even if we have the extra 140 million litres and still allow cartels to persist then we won’t notice the difference,” he said.
When he visited the ongoing works, governor Sakaja told city residents to expect clean water, and for those who have been getting water once a week, to expect it even more.
NWSC Managing Director, Engineer Nahashon Muguna, confirmed that parts of Nairobi are already receiving water from the tunnel, with full rollout expected soon.
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