Kenya, Kisumu
What
Informal Settlement Sanitation
High priority justification
The sanitary conditions in the informal settlements in Kisumu are very poor with insufficient and inadequate facilities. Open sewers in Manyatta A, one of these settlements, are discharging into a storm water channel which is directly draining into the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria. The existing wastewater treatment plant has sufficient capacity to treat the wastewater from Manyatta A and is underutilized.
Context
Kisumu, located on the shore of Lake Victoria, is the third-largest city in Kenya and the second-largest city in the Lake Victoria Basin. It is the most important inland port in the Lake Victoria circuit.
Manyatta A is a planned informal settlement in Kisumu City, covering an area of about 2.4 km2 with a population of about 46,000. Wastewater is collected in open sewers, ultimately draining into Lake Victoria. The HPI is considered an important pilot project for informal settlement sanitation. The project envisages the collection of wastewaters through expanding the urban sewerage system with so called infill sewers and conveying it to the existing Nyalenda wastewater treatment plant. Households with private latrines will be stimulated to connect to the sewer system, while for the poor population without private sanitary facilities, public ablution blocks will be constructed. These can be utilised by up to 6 households. Also, four primary schools in the area will be provided with ablution blocks.
The National Project Executing Agency is the Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Authority (LVSWWDA). After completion, the facilities will be handed over to KIWASCO, the Kisumu Water Services Provider, for operation and maintenance.
Status
The IWRM programme has been extended by 3 years up to February 2026, and additional funds have been made available by BMZ. The original investment amount for the Kisumu HPI of EUR 5.5 million has been increased by EUR 1.1 million and amounts now to EUR 6.6 million.
A pilot area was selected in which 196 landowners and tenants were consulted about the preferred location of the Ablution Blocks (ABs). 144 AB locations were defined and included in the final Feasibility Study. It has been agreed to construct 550 ABs in Phase 1. The second phase of building another 550 ABs will be agreed upon at a later stage. The Project and Funding Agreement (PFA) between LVBC and LVSWWDA has been signed. the detailed design and tendering of construction works will be undertaken in 2024.
© Photo credits Jan Spit
© Photo credits Bob Pengel
© Photo credits Jan Spit
© Photo credits Jan Spit