Water secretary Eugene Wamalwa (right) with National Water Corporation board chairman Julius Kones at a media briefing in Nairobi on February 4, 2016. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
The United Nations has elevated Kenya to category two status on water resources, making it a global hub for training water experts.
The move, which makes Kenya the second such hub in Africa after Tunisia, is set to unlock billions of shillings in funding from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
“Kenya has been upgraded to a category two status by Unesco in recognition of the efforts that the country has done in the water sector,” Water and Irrigation Cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa said in Nairobi on Wednesday.
The minister appointed Ms Mary Khimulu as the chairperson of the Regional Centre on Ground Water and Research Institute in East Africa.
The institute will have a sole mandate for training students in the underground water in the East African region and beyond. “The new status will attract students from all over the world to study about aquifers in the country,” he said.
The category two status will also see the expansion of the Kenya Water Institute to cater for the increased number of students and make it in line with international standards.
The South C-based institution currently offers water related studies but only to local students.
Kenya and UNESCO are currently in a cooperation agreement signed in May that would see the mapping of groundwater in all 47 counties, with a particular focus on arid and semi-arid areas.
The cooperation will help staff at local and national water agencies gain skills to manage groundwater effectively and sustainably.
John Nyaoro, executive director at the Nile Water Basin said the move by the UN would play a critical role in developing the water sector in Kenya.
Dr Nyaoro said the country will benefit from advanced technology in drilling the underground water.
“With the category two status Kenya now stands to benefit from donors by upgrading the old technology that we are currently using,” said Dr Nyaoro.
In 2013, 250 billion cubic metres of water contained in an aquifer (an underground rock that holds water), the largest in the world, was discovered in Lokichoggio along the Kenya-South Sudan border.
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