By Moses Adongo
Kajiado was tipped to be among counties that would benefit from the completion of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line running from Nairobi to Mombasa.
Situated strategically along the 472km line, the county stood a chance to increase its economic base.
The completion of the SGR was expected to expand the hotel and accommodation sector and generally industrialize the County. Whereas these were not kneejerk benefits, the training of the locals to provide labor and skills was a return that was felt immediately. Others included construction of churches, schools and health facilities for the community.
However, the most unexpected but one benefit that has overjoyed the community is the discovery of a water spring in Ngong. The water spring was discovered by the China Road and Bridge Corporation during the construction of the 45km Kimuka tunnel in Ngong.
The spring has a capacity of producing 1700 cubic meter in an hour and has already formed a stream 100km long.
The discovery of the water spring, which has also been tested to be fit for human consumption, has come as a relief to the locals. The community in Kajiado county has been facing water scarcity challenges with only about 35% of the households connected to clean water.
With this discovery, plans to tap the water and connect it to over 2,500 families are ongoing. The community, which is largely pastoralists, are expected to also benefit from livestock troughs that will be installed along the water channel.
The water has already been piped to Oloshoibor mega dam and will be a reprieve for the few farmers in the community having access to water for irrigation.
Despite the good plans already being put in place, there has been concerns of illegal diversions by cartels who intend to make personal commercial gains. This challenge has however caught the attention of the County Governor Joseph Ole Lenku, who has since called for a systematic tapping of the water to ensure equity and to avoid misuse.
