(sent by Coalition Constitution Reform)

Water vendors cash in on residents’ misery

By Athman Amran

As Kenyans joined the rest of the world in marking World Water Day three weeks ago, many of them had little to celebrate.

In Nairobi, water taps in many homes were dry as owners of water tankers and water vendors laughed all the way to the bank. Which is why the day’s theme — Coping with Water Scarcity — was apt.

In many parts of Nairobi, water tankers lurk around estates where water shortage has been persistent since the 1990s.

"God knows how to provide for his people. Persistent shortage of water in parts of Nairobi has provided us with our daily bread for a long time. We have rent and school fees to pay and children to feed," Mr Francis Kamau, a water tanker owner who supplies water to several estates along Ngong Road and Karen, told The Sunday Standard.

But some of his clients in Santack, along Ngong Road Estate, see it differently. Mr Kenneth Keige, believes some Nairobi Water and Sewage Company senior employees are colluding with owners of the tankers to limit water supply.

"We used to get water once a week but now it comes once in two weeks with low pressure and for a short time," Keige says.

Another Santack resident, Mrs Wambui Mwangi, says she has visited the water company offices so many times that she knows all the officers. She says the officers usually give residents "false" promises.

"Why is water in plenty during Christmas? Is it because those siphoning the water have taken a holiday?" Mwangi asks.

She says residents have written complaint letters to the water company and are now on the verge of despair. The water tankers are strategically parked in areas where their services have been in high demand for the past 15 years.

Strict rationing has been a curse to many people in Karen, Kawangware and Dagoretti. Landlords say the area experiences a very high turnover of tenants every year.

Those, like Keige, who own houses persevere and spend a fortune buying water. A survey by The Sunday Standard reveals most homes in Santack have multiple water storage tanks in capacities ranging from 140 litres to 23,000 litters, which costs between Sh500 to Sh20,000 and a water pump, which costs about Sh5,000.

A few homes have boreholes. The water vending business is so lucrative that at one spot alone next to the Kenya Meteorological Department there are more than 100 tankers on standby to provide the commodity to desperate people.

Other tankers are stationed at Kitengela, Karen and Kariobangi. Borehole owners in Dagoretti Corner are also cashing into the booming business.

The residents buy a full tanker at Sh1,500 and Sh6,000 depending on the capacity of the tanker and the distance travelled. A 4,000-litre tanker costs between Sh1, 500 to Sh2000 while a 10,000-litre tank costs between Sh3,000 and Sh6,000.

Water vendors sell a 20-litre jerican of water for Sh20. The situation is a major financial strain to those affected as some spend between Sh2,000 to Sh8,000 a month on water alone. Where they to receive water in the taps daily their water bill would range between Sh500 to Sh1,000.

The Nairobi Water Sewage Company tankers charge 50 per cent less. The company has eight tankers.

The corporate affairs manager, Mr Mbaruku Vyakweli, says the perennial water shortage is due to the destruction of the Sasumua Dam in the late 1990s by heavy rains.

"The French Development Fund has given the company Sh1.5 billion to repair the dam," Vyakweli told The Sunday Standard. He says repairs have begun but it may be long.

Vyakweli dismisses accusations that some senior Nairobi Water Sewage Company own water tankers.

"Our tankers have private registration number plates and our logo. We have been doing away with the trucks we inherited from the Nairobi City Council," he says.