River Kibos, which supplies more than one million residents with water in Kisumu is one of the many rivers found within Western Kenya with its catchment in Nandi Hills in Nandi County.
With the support of a non-governmental organisation (World Wide Fund for Nature ) WWF, more than 600 Kenyans embarked on a three-day hike to preserve, protect and create awareness in the community along the Kibos River on how to reserve its waters.
The mission is to ensure that the community living along the river should not pollute by dumping waste into the river or by doing any human activities interfering with the quality of water to promote sustainable water use within the community.
Transversing between three counties of Nandi, Vihiga and Kisumu, a Journey of Water Campaign aims to expose water users to the long journey water takes before it reaches their taps, this fosters a deeper appreciation for this vital resource.
WWF is a non-governmental organisation that seeks to help local communities conserve the natural resources they depend upon, transform markets and policies towards sustainability and protect habitats.
It brought together all the water sector working groups to help advocate for the restoration of the Kibos River amongst the communities in Nandi, Vihiga and Kisumu where the river flows down to the lake.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF lead Dr William Ojwang Said the lake cannot be managed in isolation without knowing what happens to its catchment.
Ps for water and sanitation Julius Korir said that water sources are facing challenges of illegal riparian encroachment,” water catchment must be protected as they are vital water sources.
He also added that the ministry in charge of water is in the process of engaging all the water sector working groups to enhance water conservancy.
According to the residents along the river Kibos in the three counties of Nandi, Vihiga and Kisumu, they urged the national government and the County governments to help in formulating the law that will stop the sand harvesting along the river. They added that sand harvesting is one of the threats to the conservation of the rivers.
The county governments of Nandi, Vihiga and Kisumu County have agreed on establishing a joint water resource facility geared towards pooling resources from respective counties and development partners to increase resource envelope and allocation to water resource management by at least 2.5 % of line departments’ budgets in the respective counties.
In collaboration with other stakeholders, the three County governments agreed to support the establishment of the Basin Water Resource Committees in the Lake Region and create enabling policies that strengthen water resource management and Foster collective actions.
They also agreed to support water utilities to invest in catchment restoration for enhanced water yield and water quality for improved water services. All these will ensure proper restoration and conservation of water sources within the three counties.
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