Five villages in Longonot division of Naivasha Sub County have been hit by acute water shortage following the prolonged drought, despite many regions receiving rainfall in the country.
Villagers have now been forced to trek for long distances in search of the commodity for both their domestic use and their livestock.
The affected villages include Munengi, Muniu, Satelite, Kiambogo and Ereri, with many farmers losing their livestock in hundreds to the drought.
A spot check to the villages established that residents were walking for over 25 kilometres in search of water.
Mary Mbugua from Munengi said that the trekking in search of water had taken a toll on women and children in the area adding that the situation had forced most pupils to drop out of school.
“Water is being sold at very high prices forcing us to prefer walking long distances as we are unable to afford enough for both our animals and for domestic use,” said Mbugua.
A 20 litre jerican is selling at between Sh 40-45 while that of 30 litres is going for Sh 55-60 and this is more than four times what it used to be two months ago.
Wild animals from the nearby Longonot National Park have consequently invaded farms and destroyed much of what was left there, thus worsening the situation.
Another resident Jane Kihara from Satelite was concerned that the high price of buying water was draining them financially as they were unable to effectively cater for other needs.
“Most of the families are not able to sustain demand for other needs including our livestock and we are afraid if it does not rain soon, the situation will be worse than it is now”, she added.
Mbugua appealed to the county government to urgently address the water crises in the areas that she claimed had been ignored by successive administrations.