Making fortune through water vending business- A leeway to surive

Water scarcity is the biggest headache for residents of wajir County a crisis that has never been ease for long time almost half of majority spent mininum of 2000 to cater for this precious element


With climate change related disorders caused shortages of enough water
On the street your eyes won't turn unless it catches donkey carts, vehicle ferrying jergens either from or already fetch water from private owned water kiosks point.

Ironically this scarcity has opened money making opportunities for many people in the town and the surrounding areas, who are now selling water for a living like Mzee Omar who runs a an open kiosk in Orahey, a business he said he inherited from his father

Omar invested on this rare go getter way of living saying he is able to feed, clothe and educate his children without straining financially. Unlike previous years when he had nothing.

This business has scores of challenges as put by Mzee Omar that sometimes worries his efforts of getting daily breads of his children
(Bites electricity)

With influx unpurified water services delivery Omar assures his customers that they get clean water as he explains that all health requirements are checked regularly


Trade in water is perhaps the most lucrative business in the town and has attracted all folk.Anyone with water to sell has a ready market as residents buy the commodity without complaining about the high prices or the source.

A jobless youth who joined the water vending business told us earns an average of Sh1,000 a day. He is among those who buys from mzee Omar kiosk in Orahey he buys with Sh5 for a 20-litre container and later sell the same at between Sh20 and Sh25 .

Shukri too applaud that making this business one must prepare for challenges.


On our check up as sema47 crew several residents who we spoke on off record said water crisis needs good governance, policies and accountability. Private drilling boreholes is biggest associate of water scarcity in the County.

The government invests only Sh40 billion annually against the Sh100 billion that the national water master plan recommends is needed to achieve universal access by 2030

Despite the efforts of the County government deeping more on provisions of water there is long way to go on accessing clean water, they request the leadership to fastrack a longer solutions to end this dry tap .

Most of the money goes towards the construction of dams but many of such projects have stalled and a couple are embroiled in a multi-billion-shilling scandal. This suggests that little of the allocated funds actually goes into improving the water situation in the country.


Both Government must not only increase the allocation to water but there must be better efficiency in the use of funds and the water itself if we are to prevent the looming water crisis.