As I made my entry into the coastal city, Mombasa, I was worried. I am aware of the water crisis that the coastal city has. I found a place and as usual, the water pump had malfunctioned. The residents had to buy water from vendors.
The failure to purchase the water pump lied between its inexistence in the market and the lack of funds. Landlords have this sluggish response when they are not affected by the problem. For a period of two weeks I had to buy water. According to my agreement with the landlord, I would get all my deposit back if I decided to leave within the first month of my stay. I made the decision and left. Water is life, so they say.
One afternoon I made a visit to the famous Pirates, and swam. Once satisfied, I was obliged to rest. Something came to my mind, the large water body and crisis as if Mombasa was in a desert. The large water body would mean a lot of water for the residents. That was the irony.
With a city located along the shores of an ocean, one does not expect it to have the water crisis it has. Their problem should be where to store their water. In this case, where to get the water comes before where to store it. It is not surprising with most African countries.
It is our systems of government that have failed. Every time somebody says a state has failed, we do not look at some details that drive the wellbeing of the people. Political rhetoric make headlines. The government spokespersons would then come to oppose what is in circulation.
Installing an efficient water system would not be more than 10 billion in Mombasa. This would include high levels of distillation because of the salty nature of the water. In history, we have lost a lot to corruption from Anglo Leasing, Goldenberg, Maize Scandal, Grand Regency, Standard Gauge Railway project, Youth Enterprise Fund, Kazi Kwa Vijana projects and more (I hate and fear filling my page with lists if corruption scandals). Currently the county governments are milking us dry.
It is not only Mombasa, take a visit to Kisumu city. Known by the delicious foods, the city is one of the good ones to visit. When one moves to the shores of the second largest freshwater lake, Victoria, they notice how the air is col and comforting.
Our country is full of irony. Areas like Ukambani suffers from water problems while River Tana is lying along the area. These issues makes one sick and can wish they had the powers of this country for a week to transform everything. Ironical cases of development are common in Kenya.
With all the water bodies, we cannot feed ourselves. Israel, which is a fraction of Kenya can feed us with no rainfall. Walk to the university of Nairobi, producing the most brilliant architects and look at their school of architecture and design. It’s the poorly developed building.