Ithanga gets water connections after decades of struggle

The remote Ithanga village in lower Gatanga remains badly hit by a shortage of water despite several efforts to address the issue.

The residents languish in an endless search for domestic water and to quench their thirst in the semi-arid area with far-flung rivers.

However, the residents depend on fruit farming as fruit trees were the only crops that could withstand the harsh weather.

The locals struggle to access drinking water after walking long distances, but there is a sigh of relief to the locals after more than 2,000 connections have been affected by Gatanga Water and Sanitation Company.

A headteacher at Makutano primary school, Michael Mwaura asserts that the locals are struggling for a long time even to just access drinking water.

The pupils, he explained, carry water from their homes to clean classrooms, among other needs.

The scarcity of the water makes the classes go for months without being cleared.

“The drinking water is hard to access as local wells have dried up and locals have to trek long distances to access communal dams,” said the teacher.

It is now a reprieve in the locality that the government completed a Sh3.5 billion water project to transform the area into a food basket.

Another resident, Peter Nzioka, said since 1986 access to water in Ithanga has been a struggle and difficult to sustain his farm.

“We are very happy with this project and comfortably consume water because it’s treated. Local schools would go all the way to the Thika river to fetch water using trucks”.

Nzioka said they have now attained freedom from thirst and will no longer be associated with drought and hunger, saying they will now engage in agribusiness.

Gatanga Water and Sanitation Company’s Managing Director John Kairu said the project will connect more than 12,000 connections,  ending residents' struggle with the search for water.

“About 2,000 homes have been connected to the commodity as the water firm expands the last mile connectivity. Some of the areas covered are Macfast, Kwa Jimmy, Muti, Junction, Kaguku, Kirathani, Ithanga, Ngelelya and Kwa Mukundi,” said Kairu.