Governor Mwangi wa Iria dissolves all water boards, appoints caretaker committee

Murang’a governor Mwangi wa Iria ( right) in a talk with Murang’a water and sanitation Managing Director Eng Daniel Ng’ang’a after the opening of the local county assembly. Iria said the county government was working towards lowering the water tariffs. [Photo: Boniface Gikandi]

Governor Mwangi wa Iria has dissolved the five water boards in the county and appointed a caretaker committee to run the companies.

The eight-member committee will oversee operations of water companies whose officials have been accused of poor performance.

Equity Bank chairman Peter Munga, who has been at the helm of Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company (Muwasco), is among those affected by the changes Iria announced on Tuesday.

Also affected are 34 directors who have been running the water companies have been sent home.

The other companies targeted in the changes are, Kahuti, Murang’a South, Gatanga and Gatamathi water and sanitation companies, all under Tana Water Services Board.

The decision was effected on Monday, two weeks after the governor said his administration would re-structure water companies to improve performance.

Speaking after a daylong closed-door meeting with officials of the water companies, Iria directed that water tariffs be lowered with effect from November 1, to Sh200 per month down from Sh540 per month.

“New connection fees and monthly meter rent priced at Sh2,700 and Sh50 were abolished. Reconnection fee, which has been exploitative, has been reduced to Sh100 from Sh500,” he said.

He said tariffs imposed on the consumers differed from one company to the other while price of the commodity was cheap in Nairobi and Thika.

“Murang’a has plenty of water and companies in Thika and Nairobi get the commodity from the slopes of Aberdare Forest. It is a shame that water in Murang’a is expensive and many residents lack access to clean drinking water,” said the governor.

He said they would inject Sh1 billion in the sector over the next two years to increase access to piped water from 36 to over 70 per cent.