Know our history

The Kathita Kiirua Water Project (KKWP) is legally registered and recognised by the registrar of societies. KKWP has been appointed as a water service provider by Tana Water Services Board and has a 168km2 area of operation. It is affiliated to the Diocese of Meru Water and Sanitation Services (DOMWASS).

The project was initiated by the efforts of the congregation of Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus with stewardship from Sr. Maria Pia and Sr Rittalba Sutti. CEFA(an Italian NGO) was approached through the Diocesan structures and Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus through the Bishop of Imola to assist primarily as an implementing agency.

These efforts bore fruit in 1990.This period marked the arrival of first volunteers from CEFA in Kiirua. They included Patricia, Anna Rosa, Fausto, Lia Fausto, Paulo Panini and Maria Laura. This pioneering team was also instrumental in establishing the first offices of CEFA at Kiirua and putting in place basic infrastructure for the initial implementation of the water project.

With initial donor support co-financed from the Italian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union, work on the project began. The work started with the surveying of the water project from the intake on the Kathita River. This was followed by the construction work at the intake and the sedimentation tank. These activities were running concurrently.

Between 1994 and 1996, the project helped to create local water systems and the first committees. The local water systems were created to allow for community mobilisation. Up to the end of 1995, six trained contact farmers were working with existing groups. By the end of 1996, trenching of the main pipeline had intensified with enthusiastic participation of local people along Machaka - Murinya main line. In 1997 the project intensified the agro-forestation activities through tree planting and prevention of soil erosion. In addition, the local water committees started to be trained.

The water supply scheme was completed by the year 2005. In the year 2006 the scheme was appointed as a water service provider by the Tana Water Services Board. The KKWP addresses a pressing community by serving mostly semi-arid areas. There are several small perennial and ephemeral streams within the upper part of the KKWP that supply the area. Besides, some of them are besieged by conflicts which have made them stall or fail. Some of the households living within the project area make use of shallow wells but most of them are unprotected so the water quality is questionable. Currently the project has more than 3697 members and more than 1184 connections.