Residents of Nyaronge village in Nyamira County have asked the national government to step in and solve a looming crisis between locals and officials of a borehole.
Speaking on Monday in the village, they alleged that officials of the borehole were harassing them and were closing the public facility during weekdays contrary to the initial agreement of opening it all days, except Saturdays.
They took on the borehole watchman, Duke Omayio, who has allegedly personalised the government premises by declaring it out of bounds from the public.
“We have talked time and again about the borehole but nothing concrete has been taken. We are demanding that the national government officials from the ministry chip in and solve the crisis before it worsens,” said Simon Nyakundi, on behalf of the residents.
“These officials are acting with a lot of impunity. They do not want us to use the premises despite being a government property. The watchman has been intimidating us time and again besides making the borehole his own property and close family members,” he added.
However, Julius Nyangena, the chairman of the project, termed the issue as ‘small’ that could be handled locally.
The borehole, which was a project of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, was constructed in 2012 to allow residents access clean water easily and reduce the distance covered due to hilly surrounding in the region.
“The initial objective of this project which was to allow us access water at a central place because the region is hilly has been violated. We want this crisis to be solved urgently since the project is for the public,” he said.