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Privatisation Not a Cure for Kenya's Water Woes

Opinion

Betty Nyambura, Monday, June 2, 2003

The media last week reported the most ironic of events. In one news item, television footage showed thousands of people queuing at mosques, temples, churches and other places where water was available as the shortage cause by the bursting of the Sasumua dam continued to bite. Water shortage gripped the city as the tunnel that feeds the Ng'ethu treatment works, which is said to supply 82 per cent of Nairobi's water supply, was blocked.

As if this was not bad enough, the newscaster proceeded to the next item, highlighting the havoc the rains were wreaking in some parts of the country, including Nairobi. Thousands of Kenyans have been displaced, property destroyed, animals killed and roads rendered impassable as flood waters gushed menacingly down the rugged tracks.

If we were living in the Shakespearean times, "Dry Floods" would have been an appropriate title of a book describing the whole paradoxical situation. Floods that kill amid dry taps.

It is strange that it is in these circumstances that the government is going to great lengths to explain to Kenyans why it is important to privatise water supply. Kenyans are being told that they will enjoy the benefits of an efficient and diversified water supply system once a private entrepreneur takes over.

The question that comes to mind is, is it impossible for the government to be efficient? In other words, is there a new set of vocabulary in which the words government and inefficiency are synonyms? I ask this because many of the problems associated with water supply have been blamed on the inefficiency of local authorities. The cancerous corruption that plagues the public service has not spared councils.

In addition to this, poor distribution infrastructure and revenue collection mechanisms have hampered local authorities' ability to supply water. Why do we shy away from directly addressing the problem? We should not excuse a non-performing public office by assigning its responsibilities to other parties. This will not solve the problem, it will only create another one.

Water privatisation is a monster that is hanging over the heads of many unsuspecting Kenyans. It is a buck-passing tactic that just won't solve the problem. South Africa recorded one of its worst cholera outbreaks soon after privatising its water supply systems.

The government later admitted that the poor had little access to safe drinking water because of the prohibitive costs.

Safe drinking water is a basic right and nobody should be denied access to it. In Kenya, when there was talk of untreated piped water, those who could afford it resorted to bottled mineral water. The rest started boiling drinking water. Some unscrupulous individuals took to bottling water of uncertified quality to maximise profits.

We should never be under the illusion that service to the people drives investor interest. The basic reason for investment is profits.

At times, the drive to maximise profits prompts various degrees of compromise.

The question that needs to be answered is whether the problem bedevilling water supply is efficiency or whether this is just a symptom of a deeper underlying problem.

Over the years, it has slowly emerged that Kenya's problems are generally beyond the scope of the simple remedies often prescribed for them. In the case of water, our problem is beyond the supply system; it is connected to the way we manage things.

How do we manage our natural resources, in this case water? How do we manage our disasters? We have never developed a disaster management mechanism, thus the perpetual catastrophe that the annual floods in Budalang'i and Nyando have become. That some areas are more prone to flooding than others is a fact.

Drought and famine are also well-known phenomena. The issue is, how do we deal with them when they occur so as to turn their adverse effects to opportunity?

In the 1998-99 El-Nino rains that caused havoc similar to what we are witnessing, Kenyans were dismayed about the damage they caused and how unprepared we were to deal with the problem. Soon after that, we were hit by a major drought caused by La-Nina. The land that had recently been submerged in water was now parched. Where did all the water from the rains go? Why didn't we store it? Feigning anger, Kenyans asked these questions. Feigning because, just a few months or years down the line, we forget everything and go about our usual business as though nothing has happened.

Warning bells are now ringing. Floods have hit many parts of the country and the taps in Nairobi are running dry. When reminded of such mishaps, the first instinct of the Kenyan culture is to form a committee to look into the issue.

Before the committee can study the situation and make any recommendations, the crisis is already gone. So, what happens to the well-orchestrated reports produced by these experts? The days of managing crises by committees are long gone. It is now time for action. Let us get down to harvesting rain and flood waters for use during the dry season.

Kenya is rated among water scarce countries. The government's priority should be how to manage water and find alternative sources, not how to privatise its supply.

Let not the current situation be another lesson learnt, then lost.

Betty Nyambura works for Christians for a Just Society

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