African Woman and Child Feature Service

Stunned by the over two billion shillings lost by water companies through illegal connections, leakages and unbilled customers, the water regulatory authority has set up a team of citizens who will monitor and file reports on such connections and other problems facing the water sector.

The new initiative where citizens, in confidence, report on their neighbours, employees of water service providers involved in illegal connections business or those who take too long to rectify a leaking pipe, is being piloted in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Kakamega.

Known as the Water Action Groups (WAG), they also monitor and report to the water service providers on the quality of water, its availability, and any other consumer concerns.

Formation of the groups is happening at time when it has emerged that many of the illegal water connections in the estates and slum areas are owned and operated by the very employees of these companies. This has made it very difficult for the companies to put an end to this malpractice.

“There is no way an ordinary person will operate an illegal water connection, sell water to the public in broad daylight, without the assistance of some of the water company employees. These are serious governance issues,” says engineer Robert Gakubia, The Chief Executive Officer of Water Services Regulatory Board.

The Groups, which have been operating for the past five months, act as link between service providers and their clients, educate consumers on water reforms, their rights and obligations. Those who belong to the group offer their services on voluntary basis. In Nairobi, there are 14 volunteers.

Engineer Gakubia says they came up with the initiative as part of the water sector reforms geared towards improving governance in the management of water in the country.

“Millions of shillings are spend in producing and supplying water to the consumers, but much of the revenue is lost through illegal water connections, unbilled customers, and leakages that go for weeks without being report or attended to,” he says.

It is estimated that close to half or Sh 2.4 billion of the water supplied in the country every year cannot be accounted for.

Now the board is relying on such groups and the support of the public to help put a stop to this and increase the revenue collected in the water sector.

WAGs will also assist the board to communicate directly with consumers so as to ensure accountability, efficiency, and provision of quality services.

“Through them and other interventions, we want to reduce the uncounted water to 25 percent from the current 47 percent,” says Gakubia.

Since their establishment, the groups have catalysed the citizens to taken keen interest in what is going on in the water sector, questioning malpractices, to the chagrin of water company employees who were used to the culture of impunity.

In Westlands District, the WAG has managed to have about 30 percent of illegal water connections stopped, according to Bonface Kagwe Muthee, the Vice-Chair of WAG, Nairobi Province.

“Majority of these connections were visible, but now we are receiving reports from residents about other connections hidden inside houses where there is perimeter wall.”

Muthee says his team has been inundated with complaints from the residents who initially did not know where to channel them or report a wrongdoing.

Majority of the complains are around illegal water connections, estimated water bills, inflated water bills, and huge kick-backs asked by some water service provider employees to zero rate the inflated bills. When they receive these complains, WAG forward them to the water service provider, in this case, Nairobi Water Company, for action.

If the provider fails to act on these reports, the groups forward them to the higher authority, the Water Services Regulatory Board for action. This happens especially in cases where the owner of an illegal water point is an employee of the water company.

During interviews with residents in Kangemi and Kibera slums, they claimed that their water is never disconnected even when they raise questions with the way they are being billed.

In one area in Kangemi, the residents said neither have they seen a water metre for the water they use nor been billed for the same by the Nairobi Water Company. They however pay Sh 200 per house every month to an individual for the water they use.

In Mombasa, people complain of lack of fresh water, receiving estimated bills or no bills at all, vandalization of pipes and illegal water connections they claim are owned by employees of Mombasa Water Company.

Coast residents have also complained to the WAG Coast group about the employees of the company selling water metres they suspect have been stolen from consumers like them.

“Since people knew my role in the water sector, they call me even at night to report a burst pipe, getting an inflated bill, or being charged unfairly by water vendors,” says Missi Juma, the WAG Likoni Zone coordinator.

On the issue of legal connections, WAG members in Nairobi and Mombassa say it needs urgent action. Besides minting millions without investing a single cent, they complained that illegal connections are denying many consumers access to water.

“The only way to put a stop to this is to have an independent team carry out an audit of the number of water points in Mombasa and establish who owns both legal and illegal ones,” says Juma.

Unlike the public, the WAG coordinators are able to access water service providers, lodge complains with them, and then do constant follow-ups to ensure the issue is acted upon.

WAG is also assisting consumers in other ways. In Kangemi, the residents under the leadership of the group, wrote a proposal to the Nairobi Water Company for development of a sewer line.

After a series of meetings, the company sent a team to look into the issue and design the sewer line. Similarly, during the water rationing, the group relayed the tribulations of the residents to the water company, which responded by digging a bore hole.

Recently, Muthee and his group managed to convince the Nairobi Water Company to build two water kiosks to ease a serious water problem in Kangemi.

In Mombasa, Juma says they are currently pushing for the new water piping system to reform the supply of clean water in the town.

But it has not been easy for the WAG members. Those who are involved in illegal water connection business or Water Company employees, who do not work efficiently, view them as informers.

“Some employees of the Water Service Providers are suspicious of us, thinking we are spying on them, yet what we are doing is trying to help consumers get quality services,” says Muthee.

The groups are now working on how to win the confidence of such employees so that they can benefit from each others role.

Since their creation, WAG members say they are overwhelmed with complaints from the public that force them to devote much of the time in solving the issues.

The only money they get is airtime, yet they spend a lot on transport moving around their areas of jurisdiction. They propose that their work be formalised for them to receive some pay.

AWC Features