By Matilda Atieno
The County government has officially kick-started the structural transition of rural water supplies across Kisumu County to guarantee that public infrastructure translates into long-term climate resilience and reliable service delivery.
By prioritizing statutory compliance, streamlined management, and professionalized corporate oversight, the county administration is actively transforming how community-level utilities are planned, regulated, and maintained. This historic institutional transition took center stage during an intensive stakeholder engagement meeting convened at the Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu to deliberate on the full operationalization of the newly formed Kisumu Rural Water Company. The milestone forum served a critical three-fold objective: to deepen stakeholder understanding of the corporation, secure broad public consensus and administrative support, and actively gather community views to shape a seamless transition framework.
The high-stakes consultative session featured an assembly of senior county leadership, reflecting the multi-sectoral importance of rural water equity in the regional development and health agenda. Gracing the milestone event were the County Executive Committee Members (CECM) for Finance Hon. George Okong’o, and his counterparts, for Water, Hon. Judith Aluoch, for Health, Dr. Gregory Ganda, and for Education, Hon. John Awiti.
The legislative arm of the county government was strongly represented by members of the county assembly led by Seth Okumu, alongside the county assembly clerk, Mr. Owen Ojuok. Joining this collective bench were the county attorney, Mr. Nashon Ojuok, the chief officer, Mr. Fredrick Osewe, senior county officials, the specialized members of the Kisumu Water and Sanitation Company staff and Board of Directors, led by the Managing Director. Mr. Thomas Odongo and direct representatives from the beneficiary communities. Crucial development partners, including SANA International and Fresh Life Sanitation, also participated actively, contributing their field expertise to strengthen the new utility’s public health and sanitation alignment.
In his opening remarks, the CEC M for Finance underscored the necessity of robust institutional design and statutory adherence, noting that the true success of climate-adaptation infrastructure rests on its capacity to consistently meet growing household demands and withstand unpredictable environmental pressures over the coming decades. A primary focus of the deliberations centered on the historic transition of rural water governance from outgrown, collapsed corporate utilities to a streamlined, fully compliant public company.
The CECM Hon. Aluoch emphasised the need to bridge the management gap, and that the county government previously sanctioned the urban utility, KIWASCO, to provide operational support under a temporary management project aimed at strengthening cost coverage and upgrading baseline capacity. Technical teams detailed the evolution of the Gulf and Nyanas Water Companies, which were originally brought into existence by the Water Act of 2003 to manage the western and eastern rural margins of the county under separate national corporations. Following the inception of devolution, these utilities were formally handed over to the County Government, but subsequently went under due to severe operational deficits, leaving them without functional directors.
The stakeholder meeting marked the formal dissolution of that transitional model, moving full management into the newly registered and legally compliant rural corporation. With the legal framework anchoring this institutional transformation was thoroughly examined by the county attorney and the legal team, highlighting compliance with the Kisumu County Water Act of 2023 and the national regulatory models set forth by the Water Services Regulatory Board.
Under this professionalized structure, all community water schemes that were previously vulnerable to mismanagement are being consolidated under corporate oversight to guarantee transparency and continuous supply. County water officials clarified the necessity of uniform customer billing, explaining to community representatives that revenue collection is fundamentally tied to sustainability, asset maintenance, and system expansion rather than commercial exploitation. To enhance access, the newly operationalized KIRWASCO has simplified the consumer application pipeline, establishing clear connection procedures at customer care desks where local applicants can secure safe water links by providing standard identifiers such as national identification copies and location details.
As the intensive stakeholder engagement concluded, a profound sense of shared optimism emerged among the participants who recognized the systemic advantages of moving away from fragmented, outgrown rural water schemes. By listening to and collecting diverse views from ward administrators and grassroots representatives, the county executive secured the popular mandate required to execute a smooth transition. Once the comprehensive implementation plan is fully deployed across the county, the standardized corporation is poised to systematically eliminate historical water shortages, elevate baseline public sanitation standards, and foster climate-smart economic development. By utilizing professionalized engineering models, introducing equitable water rationing protocols to ensure fairness, and integrating local administration into community sensitization, the partnership between the executive leadership, legislative members, and utility operators is establishing a reproducible blueprint for sustainable resource management across the county.
