Three days ago, Nairobi residents were warned that water levels at Ndakaini dam were at 44 per cent. We were told to brace for rationing. That’s a laugh considering at my place we get kanjo water just once a week and sometimes none at all for two weeks.
A few days before the announcement, we were treated to the spectacle of government workers cracking down on illegal connections. We were told the Water ministry has disconnected 800 illegal water points since February 16, when a crackdown began.
I’m willing to bet that a good number of those connections are back up. This is Kenya, after all. And that is the tragedy of this country—that so many illegalities take place with the blessing of the very people who are supposed to stop lawlessness in the first place.
How, for instance, could there be more than 800 illegal water connections? Aren’t there people whose very job is to ensure every drop of water is accounted for?
Water PS Paul Rono is on record saying half of the 560,000 cubic metres of water supplied to Nairobi is unaccounted for.
What has Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company been doing about it? On that day of the week when my estate gets kanjo water, I usually find streams of water running down the road from broken pipes. Why doesn’t NCWSC repair the pipes?
Does the company have a system to track its water and check on the condition of its pipes? Don’t even get me started on burst sewer lines.
Three sewer points have been spewing sewage onto the road at my place and nothing is being done about it. I shudder to think what the place will look like when the rains start pounding. What measures does the company have in place to maintain sewer lines?
I grew up in Nairobi and back then we had water in our house 24/7. The city population has increased exponentially all these years, one would argue. But so should have the facilities if the people in charge took their job seriously, I would fire back.
The laid-back attitude at institutions mandated to provide public services is galling.
So I’m sorry, PS Rono, it’s going to take more than the disconnection of illegal water connections to convince me that things are changing.
Not with me being forced to jump over sewage spewing just outside my gate every morning and evening.
