H.E Governor Roba’s Speech During Launch of Water trucking

Excellency Deputy Governor,
Hon. Members of Mandera county Assembly,
Members of the county executive present,
Religious elders, Civil Society members present and all other distinguished guests. Asalaamu Aleykum.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It gives me great pleasure to join you here today to officially launch water sector drought mitigation efforts, specifically drought emergency water trucking to our six constituencies. Mandera County has been hit hard by impacts of Climate Change.
As you are all aware, the short rains season of October – December 2020 largely failed with less than 20% rainfall being received in Mandera County. The low and erratic rainfalls have resulted in depressed pasture and acute water scarcity.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Currently there are 246 water trucking centers as follows;
S/NO WATER TRUCKING CENTERS
1. Mandera East: 7
2. Arabia: 6
3. Lafey: 10
4. Mandera North: 25
5. Banisa: 48
6. Mandera West: 83
7. Kutulo: 19
8. Mandera South: 26
9. Kiliwehiri: 22
TOTAL: 246
Presently, these 246 sites are being served by only seven water boozers which are inadequate to curb water scarcity during this dry spell. Today, we are flagging off an additional 17 hired water boozers in order to ensure there will be uninterrupted supply of water to these 246 water trucking centers to alleviate suffering of our people and animals. All these efforts are geared towards meeting the united nation (UN) Sustainable Development Goal number 6, about clean water and sanitation which is critical for the survival of our people and livestock.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the current financial year, Mandera County government through the department of water services has planned to drill 68 boreholes county wide. Already the drilling of 51 boreholes has been completed while the drilling of another 17 is expected to be completed before June 2021. Some 16 out of the 51 boreholes drilled turned out to be dry while the 35 successfully drilled boreholes are presently undergoing test pumping, equipping or construction of civil works, 13 of the 35 successful boreholes have already been equipped and are operational.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The strategy of Mandera County government in the water sector is to implement a short term drought emergency water which involves provision of water through water trucking, rapid response maintenance and the repair and rehabilitation of boreholes, while implement long term resilience building efforts. These efforts include drilling and equipping of boreholes and the construction of major pans and dams.
In order to effectively respond to all reported borehole breakdowns within 48 hours, we have now constituted a second rapid response maintenance team which will be based at Elwak to help reduce the time lag between the time when a breakdown occurs and its repair.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is now my pleasure to formally launch the 2021 enhanced drought emergency water provision services county wide.
Thank you and God bless you all.