A joint team from the Water Sector Trust Fund (WSTF) and the Royal Danish Embassy visited the County Department of Water Services for a learning mission and deliberations on the improvement of water services.

The Water Services Executive Faith Aletea welcomed the idea of continuous partnership with the sector players owing to their experience in supporting water access projects in Turkana and beyond.

In her remarks, CECM prioritized the need for capacity building, deployment of drilling rigs, and water research, as possible areas for partnership with both the RDE and WSTF.

She said, “The county entirely depends on groundwater as a critical source, we welcome a strategic partnership to enhance the conduct of hydrological surveys and acquisition of drilling equipment to supplement our efforts in meeting water needs for human and livestock consumption.”

The Chief Officer for Water Services, David Maraka said the Department is keen on strengthening the already existing partnerships.

He informed the visiting team, of the interventions by the County in addressing the water access challenges and emphasized the role played by partners in jointly supporting the water projects.

Representing the Royal Danish Embassy team, Sector Counselor for Water, Jorgen Larsen divulged that the visit by her team was on a learning and information exchange mission of completed programs previously funded under the DANIDA program.

Larsen described the water sector legal framework at the National and County levels as sufficiently robust with provisions for consultations before the implementation of new programs.

The Embassy has been supporting WSTF to implement WASH Projects in Turkana West for host and refugee communities.

After the visit, the team proceeded to Kakuma, for a learning tour of water projects.