It’s not enough to sack errant officers in water sector

Water Minister Charity Ngilu recently cracked the whip on the controversy-riddled National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation.

The sacking of the board, albeit belated, was informed by a report by the Efficiency Monitoring Unit implicating it in malpractice that cost the taxpayer millions of shillings.

According to the report, about Sh930 million may have been misappropriated in questionable payments to contractors drilling boreholes.

This comes at a time when the country is reeling from drought and subsequent drying up of water reservoirs. Granted, the onset of the El Nino rains has rekindled hopes of refilling these reservoirs, but if revelations such as those at the water board are anything to go by, then the nation will be thirsting for a long time.

Part of the national water corporation’s mandate is dam construction for water supplies, expand supply to service boards and other providers as well as drill and equip boreholes. Sadly, none of these targets were met.

Other levels of management in the sector are the regional water boards, which are in charge of retailing the precious commodity. It is encouraging to note that some regional boards appear to be doing what they were set up for.

As the world inches closer to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals target, Kenya is in the throes of water borne diseases. Only the other day, major towns were on cholera alert, which was compounded by the ongoing rationing of water.

This is a direct consequence of poor management that has stifled the development of basic infrastructure to mitigate water shortages.

It is against this background that the passage of the Water Act was greeted with relief in 2002. Many expected accountability from institutions manning water services, strengthening of procurement capacities and the inclusion of multiple stakeholders in decision-making.

Along with the reforms came the formation of regional water boards as part of the decentralisation of service provision in the ministry.

While the reforms appear to be working, a Water Governance Study of the country shows the battle is far from being won.

According to Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog, more than 50 per cent of water used for domestic purposes is unaccounted for.

Things could get worse given the Water Resource Management Authority is only collecting 20 per cent of fees from large water users.

The report also cites non-adherence to procurement procedures and poor management of water boards as other problems bedevilling the sector.

For years, many events have been held under the slogan "Water is Life." If this phrase is to have meaning, at least to the local populace, then procurement procedures in the water sector should be made faster and more transparent.

It is not enough to suspend or even dismiss top officials at the National Water Corporation as was the case last week.

There is need for functional checks and balances to ensure good goverance, punish those who plunder public resources and, most importantly, ensure Kenyans’ right to clean water does not remain a mirage.