Water kiosks push handcarts out of estates

By Athman Amran

Ravaged by acute water shortage, city resident are now honing survival skills.

A new kind of vendor has cropped up. It could be that neighbour you don’t fancy much or the savvy businessman, or even the youth groups in the estate.

These are vendors who have put up kiosks in the form of huge plastic tanks.

And as this business grows, the traditional handcart vendor is feeling threatened.

A water kiosk in Nairobi. Photo: Jennifer Wachie/Standard

"This venture is threatening our livelihood. We will soon be out of business," a handcart water vendor at Innercore, Mr David Maina, told The Standard on Saturday.

The kiosks vendors sell water cheaply and this has forced handcart vendors to lower prices.

A 20-litre jerrican costs Sh15 at the kiosks. The handcart vendors used to sell the same quantity for as much as Sh50, when they had the monopoly.

"We have lowered our prices to Sh20. Other customers are even demanding we sell water at Sh15," Maina says.

Apart from price wars, water volumes have also gone down.

"We used to sell up to 60 jerricans daily but now we sell about 20," Maina says.

Before the emergence of the kiosks, handcart vendors would fill a 20-litre jerrican from a borehole for between Sh2 and Sh10.

To fill a 10,000-litre tank, the kiosk vendors spend Sh2,500 if they buy the commodity from the Nairobi Water Company or between Sh3,500 and Sh4000 if the water comes from private water companies.

Mr James Mwangi, a handcart vendor, also rues the introduction of the kiosks.

"I had to bring the price down otherwise I would be out of business," Mwangi says.

The youth too have not missed out on this venture. The chairman of a youth group in Embakasi, I-Wise, Mr Seif Jowy, says they began the business five months ago.

"We felt that by putting up kiosks it would stop the exploitation of residents by handcart vendors and at the same time empower youths economically," Jowy says.

Youth initiative

For every 10,000 litres of water sold, the kiosk vendor could make a profit of between Sh1,000 and Sh2,000 depending on where he bought the water. Mr David Mukhwana, a youth leader who also trades in water, says they came up with the initiative to create employment.

"We saw the opportunity when we realised the handcart vendors were running a monopoly," Mukhwana says.

The Valley View Youth Group comprises 10 members. The group contributed Sh80,000 to buy a 10,000-litre water tank.

"Our profit margin could be higher had we been buying water from the Nairobi Water Company. However, if you rely on the company, you may wait for even two days before they deliver the water," Mukhwana says.

Unlike Mukhwana and his group, I-Wise got water tanks for free through an initiative of their councillor, who used to be a member of the group.

Battered economy

Ms Jackline Okoth, an Innercore resident, says she prefers buying water from kiosks.

"The economy is bad and it is wise to save even if it is that extra five shilling," she says.

She argues that the kiosks have tamed the handcart vendors.

However, there are some residents who still prefer buying water from the handcart vendors.

"Now that they have lowered their prices, I would not mind spending the extra five shillings as labour cost," Ms Margaret Wambui says.

She feels it is tiresome to make several trips to her house to fill tanks. For the kiosk vendor to ferry, he charges Sh5 more.