Over the years, water politics has subjected Kitengela town residents to perennial shortages.
Eleven years into devolution, water scarcity in the town is glaring and prices are skyrocketing. The town has neither a nearby river nor a water reservoir.
In the last three general elections, water scarcity has been used as a political "bargaining tool" by politicians, but the promises have ended up unfulfilled.
In 2019, retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose family has a farm in Kitengela, ordered the Ministry of Water and Sanitation to work with Kajiado County government to ensure a steady supply of clean water to the town.
Under a directive from the then President, the Kajiado County government was to spend Sh20 million on eight kiosks and the Nairobi Water and Sewage Company (NWSC) was to reroute the main pipeline at Kyangombe, within Kitengela town, to serve the proposed eight kiosks.
The Ministry of Water and Sanitation banned the sale of water by private companies in the region, prompting the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) to cut off the piped fresh water supply to houses in the EPZ estate, part of Kitengela town and Milimani estate.
Local leaders associated themselves with the project's success, only to keep quiet when it collapsed months later.
"The cheap water lasted for a few months before prices were increased from three to five shillings per 20 litre jerrican," said Kitengela resident Stephen Senteu.
