Kericho residents can now breathe a sigh of relief after Bomet County agreed to restore water supply despite an unpaid Sh29.5 million bill.
This is after governor Prof. Paul Chepkwony of Kericho and Prof. Hillary Barchok of Bomet settled the long-standing dispute by signing a five-year agreement on how well the supply and management of the precious commodity will be handled.
The long stand-off among other issues and the immediate resumption of water supply to Kericho County was resolved by a taskforce drawn from the two counties.
“Kericho County Government is committed to settling the outstanding debt owed to Bomet Water and Sanitation Company (BOWASCO). The agreement also seeks to improve the production of water and repair of the main trunk lines,” said Chepkwony.
In the deal, Bomet will resume supply of at least 3,500 cubic meters of water per day to Kericho with Chepkwony’s administration expected to contribute to the maintenance of the Itare water treatment plant.
Kericho is also expected to pay Sh15 million to Bomet as part of the water bills owed to the company within 14 days.
A dialogue between the two counties and Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency helped resolve the crisis that had affected about 35,000 households.
The crisis began on December 24 when Bomet disconnected water supply to Kericho from its Itare water treatment plant in Konoin Sub-County. Bomet has been supplying Kericho with water since 2015.
The county, through BOWASCO, had faulted Kericho for failing to meet its end of the bargain by failing to settle water bills. Adversely affected areas included Litein and Kericho towns.