• Residents to get free automated meters. Teams to go round ensuring no water is disconnected over unpaid bills.
•Some schools are forced to pay Sh8 million annually in water bills.
Image: Alice Waithera
Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria is renewing his onslaught against water companies that have secretly increased prices.
He urged people not to pay their bills and said they would be provided with free automated meters so they can't be cheated.
The governor said on Monday that his administration had successfully lowered water tariffs last year from a minimum of Sh330 to Sh200.
However, some schools are slapped with Sh8 million annual water bills, he said.
“It just came out from this meeting that Murang’a High School is paying Sh8 million for water in a year, yet Murang’a is the source of water,” Wa Iria said on Monday.
The county boss was issuing scholarship cheques to 1,000 students at Ihura Stadium.
He said such high charges stem from exploitation by water firms. He called it "shameful" that learning institutions have to conduct fundraisers to meet their utility bills.
“This is open thuggery. Water is a fully devolved function but there is a cartel in the form of water firms that are exploiting consumers,” he the governor said.
From next week, the governor said, the Murang’a County Water and Sanitation Act — to which the firms have declined to conform — will be fully implemented.
The act is based on the needs of residents and provides for how much consumers should pay, Wa Iria said.
“From next week, even if it means holding protests, we will fight. We started the fight last year but they have started to slowly reverse the gains we had made,” he said.
A team will be formed to go around the county, ensuring no public school has its water disconnected over bills, he said.
He pledged to ensure that tariffs approved by the county are enforced. They compel water companies to reduce reconnection fees to Sh300 from Sh500 and waive connection fees of Sh2,000.
Wa Iria called on all school heads to forward their water bills to their MCAs for discussion in the assembly next week.
“When will they develop their school if all the money paid by parents goes towards paying bills?” he asked.
The governor also said his administration will procure digitised meters that will be given to consumers at no cost.
He accused water companies of using their meters to blackmail residents into paying exorbitant bills.
The automated meters will not be susceptible to manipulation like the manual ones. They will require a token card to operate, making it easy for consumers to monitor regulate their bills.
“This will enable consumers to only consume water when they want and not be liable to standing charges when they don’t consume any water," he said.
Wa Iria said the practice of water firms’ staff going into homes to disconnect water will end.
The water wrangles that lasted for most of last year started in June when companies resisted the governor’s instructions to review water tariffs.
Wa Iria urged asked residents not to pay their bills and said plumbers would be hired to reconnect meters.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)