The constitution 2010 (section 4)
has clear tenets that secure provision of water in sufficient quantities and
safe qualities to all citizens in Kenya. Water as a a fundamental right, is the
centre-piece of livelihoods of all humans. It provides for safe sanitation,
sustainable agriculture and generally, economic development. The expedience of
water can therefore not be under-estimated.
The constitution transformed
almost entirely, the the management and provision of key services by key state
institutions under the devolved systems. The greatest victory citizens made
with the new order is ownership of government. Service provision is now people
centred.
The water sector is one of the
richest in the country, with water companies raking in billions of shillings
from water connections to consumers. These companies double as sanitation institutions, for example,
Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) and Mombasa Water Supply and
Sanitation Company (MOWASSCO). Claims of corruption, insufficient water supply,
overbilling, poor saniitation and water disconnections have always shrouded the
work of thes companies.
This aside, UN’s World Health
Organization (WHO) states that 41% of kenyans do not live in safe water and
sanitation environments and that only 11% of Kenyans in rural areas have access
to water supply. It further indicates that 10% of hospital deaths result from
water related diseases (WHO report,
2011).
Therefore, the reality of water
scarcity and related problems is here with us. This, plus the constitutional
gap, necessisated The Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) to embark on the
revision/ammendment of the Water Act 2002 in 2011. This is the legal document
that provides an oversight guidance on the management and provision of water
services.
Two years down the line and two
months to the general elections that will dawn the county governments, the bill
is yet to be law. Parliament closed without the bill getting presented to the
relevant parliamentary committee or the floor of the house. It is now clear that
as we head to the new system, there are no structures that will guide water
sector.
However, the water bill 2012 has
really good provisions that would inprove service delivery in the water sector.
I wish to point out a few of them, namely:
1. It
establishes autonomous bodies like the National Water Storage Authority to
replace National Water Pipeline Board. This body will aim at improving our
water bank. We are going to have Water Services Boards at every county to
attract larger economies of scale in terms of projects funding from the donors
and the government. This also means that water service delivery shall be
edecentralized.
2. There
is provision for citizen participation in the water sector. Water Action Groups
(WAGs) are established to represent citizens and act as a link between Water Companies
and consumers. The WAGs will carry out civic education on sector institutions
and water sector reforms.
3. The
county governments will be the ones that shall be having contracts with the
water companies, not the central governments. This will improve transparency
and effeciency in water service delivery. Bureacracies involved in central
government water services will also be avoided.
It is therefore grossly
imperative that stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector begin to brace
themselves to push state actors to speed the enactment of the water bill 2012
into law. While the national water policy has been revised and obviously, it
has began to be implemented, the fate of the bill hangs in the balance. For
better water provision and improved livelihood aspects related to it, all of
must be ready to push the govenrment to release the bill.
The writer is a an intern with
the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MOPHS), Homa Bay County and the
convener of Public Health Officer
Interns Kenya (PHOIK).
