By Abdi Hussein
husseinabdi527@gmail.com
All buildings owners in Kajiado County have to contend with new county law on water harvesting requiring every building to have gutters to harvest rain water.
All buildings in both rural and urban areas will be mandatorily required to have water harvesting and storage infrastructure.
The new law under Kajiado Water Harvesting Bill adopted by the county assembly and appended by Kajiado Governor Joseph Lenku require those who intend to build residential and commercial buildings to seek approval of water harvesting facilities forthwith.
The law cuts across the county where natives Maasai community in rural areas will be forced to fit water gutters in their Manyattas.
The county may, however, provide financial assistance to resident welfare associations, private schools, institutional buildings, hospitals and charitable institutions for construction of rain water harvesting structures in their buildings up to fifty percent of the total cost.
The already existing buildings have been given 18 months to comply with upcoming buildings given a grace period of three months.
All those seeking building approvals will forthwith will be required to also seek approval on water harvesting.
The private bill was tabled in the county assembly by Nominated MCA Onesmus Ngogoyo in 2018 and enacted into a law early August 2020 after rigorous review and public participation.
The second term MCA said water shortage in entire Kajiado County is alarming especially with global weather change affecting water aquifers resulting in boreholes drying up in satellite towns.
He says water scarcity is a recipe of conflicts which if not addressed properly threatens harmony among communities in future.
Kajiado residents lauded the move saying it will help reduce water shortage in the semi arid county which experiences between 500 and 700 milimetres of rainfall annually.