A Sh212 million water project in Kakamega is facing fresh delays after the contractor fell far behind schedule, prompting Water Cabinet Secretary Eric Muga Muriithi to demand an immediate explanation and warn that the government will not accept unnecessary delays.
The Shitoli Water Project in Ikolomani is only 11% complete, even though 77% of the contracted implementation period has already passed. Only about 2.6km to 2.8km of the planned 18km pipeline has been laid, raising concerns over when thousands of residents will finally get the water supply they have awaited for years.
Muriithi issued the warning on Thursday, September 3, 2026, while inspecting the project, where he questioned the slow pace of work and the reasons given by the contractor for the delays.
“The contractor has achieved only 11% progress against 77% of the project period having elapsed. The reasons I’ve heard are not substantial,” Muriithi maintained.
The project has already endured years of delays. The Kakamega County Government said in March 2026 that the Shitoli Water Project had remained stalled for more than 15 years before efforts to rehabilitate and solarise the scheme were revived.
The project was officially relaunched on March 16, 2026, during a groundbreaking ceremony attended by President William Ruto and Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa. The county government put its cost at Sh212 million and said the upgraded scheme would provide water to more than 45,000 residents in Ikolomani, Shinyalu and neighbouring areas.
The works are being carried out under the President's Last Mile Water Connectivity Programme and include the installation of a 120-kilowatt solar power system.
The project also involves laying an 18.3km distribution line to areas including Sigalagala, Museno, Khayega, Iguhu, Ikolomani, Musingu and Malinya.
Once completed, the upgraded water system is expected to produce 3.5 million litres of water every day. At the time of its relaunch in March, the county government said the works were expected to take eight months.
The latest concerns over the slow pace of construction come as the government works to expand access to water across the country.
The Ministry of Water says access to improved water services increased from 70% in the 2021/22 financial year to 74% in 2024/25, giving more than six million additional Kenyans access to improved services.
The government has set a target of raising access to clean water from 70% to 80%, while also increasing access in rural areas under its medium-term plans.
Despite the progress nationally, Kakamega continues to face gaps in water access. A 2024 county investment report put overall water coverage at 53%, while only 19% of residents were served by formalised water service providers.
The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey gave a different picture, reporting that 74% of households in Kakamega had access to at least basic drinking water services, compared with 68% nationally.
The survey also found that nationally, only 65% of people had enough drinking water when needed, while 54% did not have water on their premises and had to travel to collect it.
Muriithi said the delays at Shitoli were difficult to justify because the contractor had already received an advance payment and the government had no outstanding payment to settle.
“This is the first project where the contractor has been given an advance payment, and the money is in their possession. The contractor has no pending bill; we do not owe them even a single shilling,” he said.
The CS said management meetings had been held to address challenges affecting the project, but the contractor had failed to attend some of the meetings.
He directed the Lake Victoria North Water Works Development Agency, which oversees public water infrastructure in six western Kenya counties, including Kakamega, to tighten supervision of contractors handling such projects.
During the inspection, officials reported that about 2.8km of the pipeline had been completed. Muriithi, however, sought details of other works the contractor said had been carried out.
“What other works have you done? Factual, not stories,” he told officials.
The CS directed the contractor and the employer to agree on the way forward and get the project back on schedule as the government seeks to complete the long-delayed water scheme and deliver reliable water to residents of Ikolomani and neighbouring areas.