By The Mountain Journal
The
Water Services and Regulatory Board (Wasreb) has released a scorecard on
the performance of water service providers ranking the best and worst
performers in the year 2019/2020.
In
the duration, water coverage in the county declined by two percent from
59 percent in 2018/2019 following an increased population struggling for
the resources after the outbreak of Covid 19 pandemic.
On creditworthiness index, Muranga Water (Muwasco),Nyeri, Ngandori Nginda, Nakuru, Nanyuki, while Murang’a South
(Muswasco),Kericho and Kitui ranked the poorest.
The
regulator exposed 30 water companies having 72 percent of their connections
dormant with Mombasa leading with 87,837, followed by Mathira with
26,087. Others with dormant connections are Nithi 15,800 and Embe 6,699.
The
regulator’s Chief Executive Officer Robert Gakubia in the annual report detailed that in the duration the top 10 performers in the service were Nyeri,
Nakuru, Meru, Ruiru Juja, Murang’a Water, Isiolo, Thika, Nanyuki, Eldoret
and Ngandori Nginda.
The
poor performers are Homa Bay, Kwale and Gusii who earned 20,21 and 21 marks
respectively out of the possible 200 marks.
In
the report, the regulator indicates that in the year there were 64,791 new
water connections as compared to the annual target of 200,000, and in the year
the World Bank allocated Sh 6.9 billion to water companies on
provision for service during Covid-19 pandemic.
In the sewerage coverage, the details indicate that the
number of people served declined by two percent from 17 percent in
2018/2019 to 15 percent in 2019/2020.
In
the non revenue water the report reads that the waste remained too high as the
number rose to 47 percent up from 45 percent above the recommended target
of 30 percent.
Gakubia
directed that the counties with huge populations should concentrate on expanding water infrastructure to meet the
demand, citing that population growth
was faster than that of water and sanitation facilities.
“It
is in this regard that the counties should strive to establish utilities
to cover all populations within their areas of jurisdiction,” said the
CEO.
There
is a guideline towards the management of the commodity in the rural and
underseved areas in the country, through
the regularising the operations of small scale operators and bringing
accountability mechanisms.
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