Lodwar, 29 May 2024

County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Water Services, Patrick Losike Lokaimoe, today hosted officials from World Vision Kenya (WVK) and the Water Sector Trust Fund (WSTF) at the department’s headquarters in Lodwar, on a courtesy visit to the office.

The visit was part of ongoing efforts to review and strengthen water access projects in Turkana County.

The delegation, led by the Manager for World Vision Kenya Turkana Cluster, Tom Masinde, provided an update on the Sustainable Water and Sanitation Access in ASAL areas (SWASAP) targeting Turkana West, Lokichoggio, Turkana Central, and Loima sub counties.

SWASAP aims to protect the lives and livelihoods of climate-vulnerable populations through construction of water pans at Nakurio and Lorus in Nanam ward and drilling boreholes at Urum, Lokewan, Kalokol, Kalobeyei, and Lokichoggio.

In Turkana, SWASAP is also implemented by Team and Team International and, Practical Action through funding from the County Government of Turkana and DANIDA.

CECM Losike emphasized the importance of such partnerships in advancing the county’s development agenda.

“We are committed to collaborating with our partners to alleviate the water access issues that our communities face. These initiatives are vital for our county’s resilience against climate change,” he stated.

In addition to the visit, the Water Executive hosted Fumiaka Murakami, the head of program for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Turkana.

The two discussed modalities of mainstreaming the use of a data collection technology for real time reporting of functionality status of boreholes in Turkana.

He announced plans to convene a water sector partners’ forum to streamline various interventions, foster new opportunities for partnerships and, ensuring alignment with the CIDP III and Governor’s nine-point transformative agenda for Turkana.