By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 27 August 2026 - A major last-mile water connectivity drive is set to bring clean and reliable drinking water to 3,000 households in Ugunja, Sega and Ukwala by April next year, in a partnership between the national and Siaya county governments.
The programme is designed to tackle years of unreliable water supply that has forced many residents to depend on saline boreholes and other inconsistent sources.
Siaya Bondo Water and Sanitation Company (SIBOWASCO) Managing Director Isaiah Adipo said contractors undertaking the first and second phases of the last-mile connectivity programme had already moved to the ground.
The two-phase project targets households and critical public institutions across Ugunja and Ugenya sub-counties.
“The national government through Lake Victoria Water Works Development Agency will connect 1,200 crucial customers, including health centres and schools, while 1,800 customers will be connected through the Financing Locally Led Climate Change Action programme,” Adipo said.
He said the latter component was being implemented at a cost of Sh37 million, with the entire last-mile programme scheduled for completion by April 14, 2027
The water for the expanded network will be sourced from the Areca scheme, one of 10 water schemes operated by SIBOWASCO in Siaya.
Adipo spoke during a field visit to the Areca site in Ugunja, where he hosted partners from EcoRural, Ghana water technical teams and managers of the Ujimbe and Akala water projects.
The visit offered partners an opportunity to assess the infrastructure being used to increase bulk water production and strengthen the reliability of supply to the rapidly growing urban centres.
“Our focus is delivering value for money and improving customer satisfaction,” Adipo said. “With the implementation of the last-mile connectivity programme, the people will benefit from this commodity.”
The programme builds on the Sh1 billion Ugunja-Sega-Ukwala Water Supply Project, implemented under the Kenya Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (KTSWSSP) and jointly financed by the African Development Fund and the Kenyan government.
The project established bulk water infrastructure capable of producing and supplying more than 8.4 million litres of treated water a day, enough to serve more than 100,000 people across Ugunja, Sega and Ukwala towns.
Its storage network includes steel tanks at Nyambiro with a capacity of 300 cubic metres, Yenga at 300 cubic metres, St Sylvester Anyiko at 500 cubic metres and Madungu at 1,000 cubic metres. A reinforced concrete ground tank at Got Osimbo adds another 1,500 cubic metres.
One of the project's distinctive features is its renewable-energy component.
Three hydropower turbines have been incorporated into the system to generate electricity, reducing power costs while helping maintain water production during interruptions to the national electricity supply.
For residents, however, the ultimate test will be whether the infrastructure translates into water flowing reliably into their homes.
Ugunja resident Dick Okello welcomed the government's push to extend connections into villages, saying dependable access to safe water would support Kenya's efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Six, which calls for universal access to safe and affordable drinking water.
The rapid growth of Ugunja and Ugenya constituencies has placed increasing pressure on existing water infrastructure, Okello said, making expansion of the distribution network increasingly urgent.
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Residents also raised concerns over the continued reliance on saline boreholes, saying the water has affected household consumption and damaged infrastructure.
Jerry Ochieng' said the new programme offered hope of a lasting solution but urged implementing agencies to keep to the timetable and ensure every targeted household is connected.
The infrastructure is also attracting interest from international water-management experts.
Prof Klaas Schwartz, lead trainer in water utility management at the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, described the project as an impressive example of engineering and water-utility management.
“I am amazed by the kind of engineering on the water project, right from the intake to the turbine unit,” Schwartz said.
He said the ability of the pumps to continue operating during power outages was particularly impressive.
“It has been an amazing visit and for sure these are very good plants. I want to document it so as to replicate projects with similar designs,” he said.
Schwartz thanked SIBOWASCO for opening the facilities to international water-management practitioners.
Mawunyo Kofiloto, a facilitator in water utility simulation, said the field visit had provided important practical lessons on the management and sustainability of water schemes.
Africa Water Watch Managing Director William Mboya said SIBOWASCO had become an important partner in EcoRural's capacity-building work.
He said water-utility managers had gained practical knowledge on operating schemes as well as strategies for ensuring their long-term sustainability.
“As a key partner, SIBOWASCO has taken us to water projects and we have learnt how water is abstracted, brought for treatment and then pumped for consumer use,” Mboya said.
He commended County Executive Committee Member for Water Prof Jacqueline Oduol and Chief Officer Judy Oyugi for embracing partnerships aimed at strengthening the capacity of water-scheme managers.
The race now is to turn the region's expanding bulk-water infrastructure into household-level access.
For thousands of residents who have endured unreliable supplies and saline boreholes, the real measure of the project will be simple: whether clean water reaches their taps by April 2027.