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President William Ruto said yesterday that over four million people have been connected to water through 10 completed and commissioned projects in the last one year.

Ruto said that this has raised the national water coverage to 72 per cent, which is an increase of 2.1 per cent over the last year.

“Through implementation of various development initiatives and programmes, the Government is targeting to improve national water coverage to 80 per cent, improve sanitation coverage to 85 per cent and increase area under irrigation to over 900,000 acres by the year 2027,” said Ruto.

The President’s remarks were presented on his behalf by Water Cabinet Secretary Zachariah Njeru during the Water and Sanitation Investor Conference (WASIC) at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

Inadequate access

Ruto said inadequate access to water and sanitation is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries today and jeopardising sustainable economic development.

“Inadequate resources for water sector investments continue to jeopardise improved access, and leveraging on private sector investments is a panacea to address the sector financing gaps,” Ruto stated.

The President also said plans are underway for Government to construct 100 dams in the next five years stating that it will use the PPP model to harness private sector financing, which will expand the fiscal space for investments in priority programmes and projects.

He said that the Water Ministry is carrying out feasibility studies and designs of over 40 dams with a total capacity of over 200 million cubic metres.

“All these efforts are aimed at cushioning the country against floods and droughts,” he explained.