Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has said that Nairobi County bought Ndakaini and they have title deeds to prove that, further escalating the tussle between the Murang’a County Government, Nairobi County and the Water Ministry. In what has turned out to be a contentious issue, Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria had threatened to block water supply to Nairobi and Kiambu Counties, citing the fact the Counties use water from the Ndakaini dam, yet the residents of Murang’a aren’t benefitting from the revenue collected. This has resulted to tug and pull among the leaders in the respective Counties, with the Murang’a County government seeking to impose a 25% levy on the use of water from Ndakaini.
Speaking during the Nairobi International Trade Fair, the Nairobi Governor said the water issues are being used to propel a political agenda, “Some politicians want to use water to play politics saying they represent the people of Mt. Kenya, adding that the water comes from there,” said Sonko, “Ndakaini dam was bought by the Nairobi County government and we even have title deeds and we even compensated the residents who lived there.” He said that 84% of water used in Nairobi comes from the Aberdare, and if anyone should complain it should be the Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri and the Nyeri government.
He said Nairobi depends mainly on the Chania river whose water source is the Aberdare, then it’s pumped to Gatundu in Kiambu, then it’s treated at the Gigiri reservoir and its supplied to the CBD. “Ndakaini is the storage…..but our main source of water is Chania river. When the river level goes down then we open the Ndakaini tunnels to feed the Chania river,” he said. He faulted the leaders who claim they represent the rights of Mt. Kenya residents, adding that Nairobi has the highest population of residents from the Mt. Kenya region. “Respect Nairobi residents….tribal politics is a thing of the past,” said Sonko.