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Teso South MP Mary Emase has launched an ambitious modern sanitation programme aimed at transforming hygiene standards across Teso South by replacing traditional pit latrines with environmentally friendly flush toilets.
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The initiative, to be implemented jointly by development partners and the Teso South NG-CDF, will cost Ksh3.5 million per sanitation unit and initially target 15 primary schools.
Teso South Member of Parliament (MP) Mary Emase has launched an ambitious modern sanitation programme aimed at transforming hygiene standards across Teso South by replacing traditional pit latrines with environmentally friendly flush toilets powered by sustainable technology, marking a major step toward improved public health and dignified sanitation.
The initiative, to be implemented jointly by development partners and the Teso South NG-CDF, will cost Ksh3.5 million per sanitation unit and initially target 15 primary schools.
Besides flush toilets, the project includes drilling boreholes, installing solar-powered pumping systems, constructing elevated 10,000-litre water tanks, establishing menstrual hygiene management rooms for girls and installing biodigesters that convert human waste into biogas for school kitchens.
Speaking in Amukura, Emase said the programme was designed to improve Water, Sanitation and Hygiene standards while addressing long-standing sanitation challenges affecting schools.
“Most schools still rely on traditional pit latrines, many of which are dilapidated. Some have collapsed while others have already been condemned by public health officers for posing a safety risk to learners. It is therefore time for a shift in approach towards safer and more durable sanitation systems,” she said.
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She noted that schools had exhausted land available for constructing replacement pit latrines after repeatedly digging new ones whenever existing facilities filled up.
According to the MP, the constituency also spends millions of shillings annually responding to sanitation emergencies.
“A significant portion of the Ksh10 million annual emergency allocation under the Teso South NG-CDF is spent addressing sanitation challenges caused by failing pit latrines in our schools.”
The sanitation programme was unveiled as Sidian Bank donated six 10,000-litre water tanks to Kamarinya’ng, Osurete, Amoni, Amukura, Goria and Ong’ariama primary schools.
The lawmaker said the donation would help tackle acute water shortages affecting schools.
“Children are forced to fetch water from rivers or carry jerricans of water to school every morning. These water tanks will significantly improve water availability.”
She said improving sanitation and access to water would create a more conducive learning environment.
“For children in Teso South to achieve their dreams, we must provide a conducive learning environment where they can concentrate on their studies.”
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Sidian Bank Senior Relationship Manager for Government and Institutional Banking Jerome Chibole said the bank intends to extend the Corporate Social Responsibility programme to schools in all constituencies across the country.
“We have started with Teso South in Busia County before expanding to other constituencies.”
The move has been welcomed by the education stakeholders, who said that for years, pupils in many primary schools across Teso South have depended on aging pit latrines, with some forced to study in institutions where sanitation facilities have become unsafe or been condemned by public health officers.
By Kimutai Langat
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