Eng. Peter Kahuthu, MD-NYEWASCO during one of the company's tree growing drives

In our quest to achieve 10 percent national tree cover as per the presidential directive, NYWASCO kick started a Tree Planting drive on 29th`July, 2022 at the confluence of Chania and Zaina Rivers. The event was organized by the NYEWASCO Young Water Professionals. The company has a target of planting and growing one million trees in the strategic plan (2021/22 – 2025/26). The team was led by the Managing Director, Eng. Peter Kahuthu. Also present during the exercise were Mr. George Wanjohi, a NYEWASCO customer who donated 3000 bamboo trees to the company in support of its conservation efforts demonstrated so far, Kenya Forest Service staff, Chania River Users Association, CFA representative and staff drawn from Naruwasco and Omwasco Water Services Provoviders. The drive is aimed at conserving the water catchment area as well as to enforce the green ecosystem and encourage biodiversity. Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company organized the event to create awareness on land degradation and the worrying climatic changes facing the globe currently. The event sensitized the community to support the green economy and enhance resilience to climate change risks. Seed Balls Kenya, an Environmental Conservation Organization also donated seed balls which were broadcasted during the event. The tree planting drive is set to continue throughout the wet season.

Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Ltd (NYEWASCO) is known in the country and beyond as the best water services provider. This is according to IMPACT REPORT 14 Water Services Utility Performance Report) among 81 utilities in the country for the 14th year in a row.

The second cohort of interns was inducted yesterday on 1^st August 2022. The induction exercise which was presided over by the senior management led by the managing director, Eng. Peter Kahuthu whereby 46 candidates were enrolled. The internship programme is a free and fair process which began with advertisement of vacancies. To ensure a wider circulation, the company took advantage of the robust social media platforms that it enjoys to tap into the targeted audience mainly youth who graduated from 2019 to 2022. The placed interns largely capture the face of Kenya in terms of county of origin, ethnicity, education background   and institutions of origin.

The successful candidates will undergo rigorous training in different divisions of the company with the technical division taking the giant share. The internship period will run for 11 months up to the end of June 2023. Last month, the first cohort of interns graduated into the job market after acquiring useful skills from the programme.

DEB Muslim primary and Githwariga primary schools located in Nyeri town, benefited from a donation of water storage tanks from the NYEWASCO, under the CSR initiative. The management and the pupils could not hide their joy after receiving the tanks from the company. The tanks came in handy at a time when they were in dire need of water storage facilities. The company donates water storage tanks to schools within its service area to promote water harvesting for sustainable livelihoods for the welfare of their pupils and the whole fraternities at large. NYEWASCO is a socially responsible corporate committed to undertaking CSR activities for the benefit of the community. This fosters good community relations and is a way of giving back to the society.

A report released by the Water Services Regulatory Board for the year 2020/2021 has ranked Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company (NYEWASCO) as the best performing Water Company In Kenya for the 14th year in a row.

An award ceremony was held on 24/06/2022 at a Nairobi hotel to recognize winners of the performance report of Kenyas’ Water Services Sector 2020/2021 Impact Issue no 14 where NYEWASCO emerged top in the following categories;

                     (1) Top performing utility overall

                      (2) Top in very large category

                      (3) Top  in Tana region

                      (4) Top in Non Revenue Water

                      (5)  Top in Pro Poor services

In the report dubbed Impact 14, the performance of the water services sector for the financial year 2020/21 was reviewed. The regulator continues to develop and roll out a number of guidelines that are geared towards streamlining service provision and ensure the protection of the rights of the consumer. Some of these include;
Business Planning, Water and Sanitation Services Provision in Rural and Underserved Areas, Water Safety Planning, Water Vending, Corporate Governance and Pro-Poor Water and Sanitation Services guidelines.
These guidelines serve as the yardstick with which WASREB uses to evaluate the performance of individual Water Services Providers (WSP’s) within one financial year. The chief guest was Water Secretary in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Eng. Samuel AO Alima who represented Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.
Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company scooped the first position overall with 179 points out the possible 200 points.
This is an improvement from FY 2019/20. The company has held the number 1 position for the last 14 years in a row.

While receiving the trophies, Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Ltd MD Eng. Peter Kahuthu thanked the County Government of Nyeri under the stewardship of His Excellency Governor Mutahi Kahiga for their support, the board of directors and the entire for their relentless effort and dedication to their work which has seen them achieve this success. He reiterated the management’s commitment to continue delivering reliable water and sanitation services to the citizens of Nyeri Central Sub County and its environs.

In addition, the chairman of the board of directors Mr. Patrick Munuhe thanked all staff, esteemed customers and all stakeholders for the exemplary performance. He also urged the NYEWASCO team to uphold the number one positions won and strive to improve on all other key performance indicators as the company strives to deliver quality services to her customers. He also expressed his gratitude to the County Government of Nyeri for its continued support under the leadership of H. E Governor Mutahi Kahiga.

Mr. Fredrick Kinyua, CEC in the department of Water, Irrigation, Environment and Climate change who was present during the event congratulated the NYEWASCO team and expressed the County Government’s  commitment to support all water utilities in Nyeri County to ensure that all citizens in the County have access to clean water and dependable sanitation services.