The Kenya Kwanza Government promised to adopt a Public-Private-Partnership model to develop aquifers in Turkana.
As of May 2025, Turkana County has begun installing sensors (divers) in some boreholes tapping aquifers in Lodwar (Napuu, Nakwamewi, Moi Gardens, and Nadapal) for continuous measurement of groundwater levels, temperature, water quality, etc., to inform long‐term management.
The Lamu County government, with ENI/Agip, established a smaller-scale solar desalination plant (KES 20 million) in Siyu Village (Lamu East), now operational for subsistence water needs.
Despite the announcement of the Lamu PPP desalination plant (RBKL, KES 103.3 billion), no source confirms that the project has reached financial close (i.e., legally binding financing contracts in place, all risk allocations agreed, etc.).
The Sabaki Water Carrier (Baricho aquifer abstraction, treatment, storage, network, etc.) was cleared by the PPP Directorate in February 2025 to move into contract negotiations with Utility Partners One LLP.
The Lotikipi aquifer water in Turkana is highly saline and fluoridated, meaning treatment (desalination, fluoride removal) is expensive.
Projects often take longer than planned (due to material supply delays, budget revisions, and procurement delays).
As at May 2026, the PPP Directorate’s website does not feature any project related to the development of aquifers.
August 2026: The County Government of Turkana hosted a delegation team from the World Bank’s Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience Project. The World Bank delegation team briefed the County Secretary on the project’s objectives , its progress and highlighted the importance of strengthening groundwater development as part of broader efforts to enhance ground water resilience. He reported that the progress of works for boreholes in batch one is at 37% and batch two at 26% and is expected to be successfully completed in the coming months.
