It is about one year since Napuu Chilakeny, a resident of Naipa village in Turkana — who is now in his 70s — built a latrine for his family. Decades before, Chilakeny, his wife Alice, their five children and grandchildren would go for the call of nature in the bushes nearby — putting themselves at risk of physical harm and diarrhoeal diseases, especially during the rainy seasons.
Alice told the Business Daily that life has not been the same again after the latrine was built. She enjoys the privacy that comes with using it and living in a clean environment.
“We learnt through our village chairman about the importance of having a latrine. It has especially guaranteed security for my grandchildren who would have had to go to the bushes where they are likely to run into people with ill-intentions or get bitten by snakes,” she said.
Turkana County is the second worst-hit region by open defecation in Kenya at 62.8 percent after Samburu at 65.1 percent. West Pokot comes in third on the list of counties most affected by open defecation — the practice of going out in the forest, bushes or water bodies to relieve oneself instead of using a latrine — at 52.5 percent.
The three counties are among the 13 high-burden open defaecation counties that also include Kwale, Mandera, Narok, Migori, Kilifi, Baringo, Homa Bay, Garissa and Marsabit. It is estimated that in Kenya almost five million people practise open defecation, representing more than 10 percent of the total population, according to Unicef and WHO joint sanitation programme JMP 2019.
Rural areas remain the most affected by open defecation, with 13 percent of the population practicing it compared to only two percent of urban residents.
Todate only three counties, Nairobi, Nyeri and Kisii, have been declared open-defecation-free (ODF) areas, meaning the rest of the 44 counties remain affected. In total open defecation rate in 22 counties in Kenya fall below two percent. The government had committed to end the practice by 2020 but millions of people remain affected.
But bringing down the rate of open defecation largely requires the involvement of the local people and health officials in the counties, as is the case in Turkana.
The open defaecation rate in Turkana was estimated to be at over 80 percent before 2016, but concerted efforts have led to the reduction of the practice to the current 68.2 percent.
Chilankeny’s household, for instance, is a beneficiary of the Community-Led Total Sanitation model supported by the county government and partners like Unicef Kenya. While the initiative is led by the county office and partners, they allow locals to own the project to ensure its continuity.
Partners in the initiative include the county’s health and water ministries, public health officers, village volunteers, and community elders, who help in ensuring that village members construct and use latrines.
The involvement of village volunteers ensures someone is always available to supervise the maintenance and the building of new latrines, especially in common areas like water points for animals. Locally available materials are also used in the construction of toilets. Out of 1,971 villages in Turkana, 111 have so far been declared ODF since the beginning of the initiative back in 2016.
“When the locals own an initiative there is a greater chance of success. The elders and volunteers are used to ensure success because members are more likely to listen to one of their own. Regular meetings are held at the village levels to get them to police themselves by creating shame and disgust whenever they spot excreta. This has really worked in encouraging communities to build and use latrines,” said Unicef Turkana, Water Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist, Jackson Mutia.
Poor sanitation, according to World Health Organisation (WHO), is linked to spread of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, and fuels stunting.
Worse is that poor sanitation is estimated to cause 432,000 diarrhoeal deaths annually globally. It is also a major contributor to several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma.
In general, poor sanitation- which also includes lack off access to safe drinking water- reduces human well-being, social and economic development due to impacts such as anxiety, risk of sexual assault, and lost educational opportunities.
James Ekamas, Turkana County’s health emergencies, preparedness and response co-ordinator, says while the county is working to reduce open defaecation, ensuring that the people have access to clean water is key to realising complete hygiene.
Experts say that each county needs to put more resources into water, sanitation and health programmes to ensure total sanitation and to control diseases.
“It is hard to declare places where there is no water open-defaecation-free,” said Ekamas.
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