At least eight million Kenyans defecate openly according to Nakuru County Health Executive Kabii Mungai.
This has been responsible for the increased cases of diseases such as diarrhea, Amoeba, Typhoid, and Cholera.
In turn, this has cost the Nakuru county 972 million annually, money he argues could have gone to the development of the society.
In a bid to address this, the Nakuru county government and World Vision have now declared and certified 20 villages Open Defecation Free by the World Vision and the Ministry of Health.
This will go a long way in curbing cholera that has so far claimed more than 20 lives in Nakuru, according to health experts.
This means that each of the homestead in the village have a latrine and the whole community has been mad keen to avoid practices that lead to improper dumping of waste.
“Kenya loses 27 billion shillings every year due to poor sanitation. As a county we lose 972 million shillings in the fight for disease which could be prevented by proper sanitation,” said Kabii Mungai, the county health executive.
In 2013, Kenya initiated a nationwide a Community Led Total Sanitation campaign to eradicate open defecation and intends declare all villages Open Defecation Free by the year 2020.
“It is sad that 25% of the people do not have access to adequate sanitation. It is also unfortunate that women and girls are raped and attacked while seeking a place to defecate while teenage girls cannot access higher education due to lack of toilets,” said Kabii in a speech read on his behalf by Chief of Health Samuel Mwaura.