KENYA: Water is the Foundation of the Big Four Agenda
KENYA: Water is the Foundation of the Big Four Agenda
Simon Thomas, international consultant and board member of Megapipes Solutions Limited
Johannesburg, 28 June 2021: The Big Four Agenda, announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta in late 2017, has four main pillars. Enhancing Manufacturing, Food Security and Nutrition, Universal Health Coverage and Affordable Housing. Affordable housing implies the development of adequate, standardised, and well-spaced houses with a continuous supply of clean water and electricity.
The supply of clean water continues to be a problem despite the unveiling of the government’s plans to implement a water storage programme. The plan has a strong focus on ensuring that informal settlements and arid areas also have access to clean water and is aimed at increasing the numbers by 20% or in plain terms, safe drinking water to over 9 million people by 2022. This goal does not appear to be achievable. With the government declaring a major hole in the funding budget, a more realistic timeline seems to be 2030.