Rotting sewerage system in Kisii exposing its residents to diseases

Women fetching water at Nyamatuta in Kisii County. [Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Rapid population growth, coupled with aging infrastructure is overstretching sewerage system in Kisii Town leading to sewage pollution.  

Constant leakage of raw sewage into Nyakomisaro and Nyanchwa Rivers in Kisii Town is a major concern to the local water service provider.

Gusii Water and Sanitation Company (GWASCO) has been struggling to repair the more than three-decades-old pipeline while private developers continue to make illegal connections to the already overloaded pipeline.

Many sewer pipes in the town are falling apart. Despite constant repairs by GWASCO, many pipes are outdated.

With the current heavy rains, notorious private developers have been discharging raw sewage onto the roads and open ditches, endangering the health of residents.

Bernard Ondimu, a Nyumba Kumi official in the town’s Nyanchwa Estate, blames impunity among landlords for the situation.

“Illegal connections and raw sewage discharge are becoming a norm. The short and long-term effects on our rivers are already being felt,” he said.

Environmental expert Samson Bokea says effluent from burst sewers pollute water bodies.

“Untreated human sewage may cause hepatitis, dysentery and other infectious diseases,” he said.

Records with GWASCO indicate that sewerage coverage has been very low at five percent in Kisii town whereas there is no coverage in Nyamira County.

Residents say Nyamira and Keroka towns, which were recently upgraded to municipalities, have no sewer systems.  

The utility’s area operation covers Kisii and Nyamira Counties, serving 324,833 people out of an estimated population of 1.6 million.

GWASCO Managing Director Lucy Wahito says the company aims at increasing water and sewerage coverage in low-income areas, conservation of water sources, and implementation of sector-based best practices in the next five years.

She says illegal sewerage connections impede their efforts to curb leakages.

“Some of the illegal connections are done at night. There are unscrupulous private developers who have connected the sewer to the main rivers in the town. Several have been arrested,” she said.

The company will require Sh130 million to strengthen its institutional capacity and Sh1.2 billion to ensure the company’s financial sustainability is achieved by 2028.

GWASCO’s Strategic Plan for 2023-2024 shows that the company will mobilize Sh926 million from various sources while Sh2.1 billion will be allocated by development partners to improve efficiency of the sewerage and water distribution systems.

The money will be used to increase the company’s water coverage from the current 40 per cent to 50 per cent by 2028 and increase sanitation services coverage to 25 per cent in the same period, from 17 per cent.