Tanzania: water and sewerage authority ranks high in corruption “List of Shame”

The Tanzanian water and sewerage authority ranks fifth in the corruption ‘List of Shame” published by the regional NGO Concern for Development Initiatives in Africa (ForDIA).

The report is the second comprehensive local study on corruption perception compiled by ForDIA.

The Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) is the most corrupt public institution according to the report, followed by the police, judiciary, and licensing and revenue, in second, third and fourth place respectively.

Speaking at the launch of the report [on 30 December 2009], ForDIA Tanzania Chapter Executive Director Mr Bubelwa Kaiza said the study carried out in 40 districts had shown that corruption levels were still “very high” and remained a major concern among Tanzanians.

Mr Kaiza said corruption perception had dropped by 3 per cent compared to the 2008 findings. [...] For every 100 people, 48 were affected by corruption. Fifty-one per cent of the respondents said they were affected in the earlier study.

Mr Kaiza said 41 per cent of the respondents pointed cited greed and selfishness as the leading causes of corrupt behaviour followed by low salaries (28 per cent) and poverty (17 per cent).

Other factors were weak civic competence (8 per cent), service fast-tracking (4.4 per cent), immorality (2 per cent), abuse of power (1 per cent) and response to foreign policy (0.1 per cent).

The study carried between March and July [2009], focused on service delivery by local government authorities in the 40 districts in 10 regions namely Mwanza, Tabora, Singida, Iringa, Arusha, Dodoma, Coast, Kigoma, Shinyanga and Ruvuma.

Mr Kaiza said the police, Judiciary, health, lands and housing and natural resources were the leading areas of bribery, in that order, at the grassroots level. Tanesco did not feature prominently here largely because most rural areas have yet to be connected to the national power grid.

He noted that corruption awareness among the public was as high as 90 per cent, implying that people frequently gave or received bribes.

The findings also suggest that law enforcement agencies are virtually non-existent at the village level, making it difficult for ordinary people to report corruption.

[...]

The report comes barely a month after Global perception Index (CPI) reported that Tanzania has slipped 24 places in the global corruption ranking over the last one year, reflecting the country’s faltering effort in the campaign against the vice.

The country dropped from position 102 in 2008, to 126 in the 2009 Global Corruption Perception Index (CPI), whose results were released [in November 2009] by the Berlin-based anti-graft agency, Transparency International (TI).

According to the findings of the respected anti-corruption watchdog, Tanzania posted its first worst performance in recent years in the annual ranking of the 180 countries surveyed worldwide.

However, with the exception of Rwanda, Tanzania did better in the region, ranking higher than Kenya (146) and Uganda (130) in the global index. Kenya improved by one position, while Uganda dropped four places.

Rwanda, which was ranked the same as Tanzania in 2008, is now considered the least corrupt country in the East Africa, coming in at an impressive 89th place.

For more on corruption on Tanzania go the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre.

Source: The Citizen / allAfrica.com, 31 Dec 2009

Kenya: Nairobi water board sent packing, acute water shortages persist in cities

The entire board of the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company was sent packing over alleged mismanagement on 8 July 2009. A full council meeting of the City Council of Nairobi made the move citing unfair water rationing and illegal connections that have seen millions of cubic litres of water lost even with the rains failing substantially. The council fully owns the water company which was constituted in 2004 to streamline water operations.

Several residential areas in the city have not seen a drop of water for the last four months. The crisis has prompted residents of Kayole Estate to hold a protest demonstration alleging corruption in water supply and management.

“We note with a lot of concern that there are staff members who are involved in the cartels that have illegally connected water, worsening the water shortage,” said Nairobi’s Mayor Geofrey Majiwa.

There have been warnings of an outbreak of water-borne diseases due to the acute water shortage with some residents resorting to using water from contaminated rivers and boreholes. Since late December 2008, there have been 4,000 confirmed cases of cholera and 89 deaths recorded in Kenya.

Water vendors have been making a killing with a 20 litre jerrican retailing at between Sh10 and 50. For a 5,000-litre lorry, one has to part with Sh5,000. Ironically, these vendors buy the water from the boreholes for Sh500 for the same capacity.

The situation is the same in Mombasa where many residents go for as long as one month without water. “Despite paying monthly bills to the Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company, we have to rely on water from vendors,” says Michael Embasa, a newspaper vendor living in Likoni.

In Nakuru, some factories, including Flamingo Bottlers, Coil Product Kenya Limited and Kapi Limited, have been shut down due to perennial water shortages, while here also residents increasingly depend on vendors.

But the problem is worse in some low- income estates like Bondeni, Kaptembwa and Kwa Rhonda, where the residents are struggling to put a meal on the table. The water is sold at Sh20 per 20-litre can.

Ms Mary Kamau of Pangani Estate said the water problem had made life more difficult given the current hard economic times. “Washing my family’s clothes has become very difficult because the water is expensive,” she said.

“You do not know whether to buy water or food. It is even worse for us because vendors sell water in large quantities only, which makes it unaffordable for poor families,” she added and urged the government to intervene.

The water ministry is however optimistic, promising Kenyans that the situation will improve by December 2009. In June 2009, the government signed an MOU with the New York-based firm, EarthWater Global, for ground water exploration, starting Nairobi before expanding to the rest of the country.

Source: Casper Waithaka, Daily Nation / allAfrica.com, 08 Jul 2009 ; KBC, 11 Jul 2009 ; Sapa-AFP / IOL, 08 Jul 2009 ; Dave Opiyo, Daily Nation / allAfrica.com, 12 Jul 2009 ; Daily Nation / allAfrica.com, 23 Jun 2009

Zimbabwe: water provision in disarray

Another diarrhoea outbreak in the middle-class suburbs of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, is leading to growing calls for water treatment to revert to local authorities, after a decree a few years ago gave central government the responsibility.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has made Zimbabwe’s urban areas bastions of support in the past few years, and it was this shift in political loyalties that led President Robert Mugabe’s government to create the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), which took away bulk water treatment and distribution from city councils.

Critics of the policy maintain that control of water treatment and awarding contracts for the supply of chemicals provides lucrative kickbacks for the politically connected.

ZINWA’s track record is widely viewed as disastrous, even by The Herald, the government-controlled daily newspaper

Read more: IRIN, 08 Aug 2008

Nigeria: FCT Draft Water Policy to Be Presented to Nass

“The Director of FCT Water Board, Engineer Jibril Ibrahim has said the FCT draft water policy and bill will soon be presented to the National Assembly for consideration.

[...]

Engineer Ibrahim said the policy done in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) is meant to provide FCT water Board with a new mandate, autonomy, improved accountability frame work and to encourage private sector participation.

Read more: Usman a Bello and Musa Umar Bologi, Daily Trust (Abuja) / allAfrica.com, 09 Jul 2008

Kenya: Mayor in Tussle Over Water Firm

Mombasa mayor Ahmed Mohdhar has asked the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to de-link itself from the running of a local water and sewerage company.

Under the Water Act of 2005, he said, water services were supposed to be managed by private companies approved by local authorities. A board of directors had not been set up, since former minister Mutua Katuku disbanded the company’s board early in 2007, over alleged mismanagement of funds.

Read more: Mathias Ringa, The Nation (Nairobi) / allAfrica.com, 17 Apr 2008

Kenya: Water Set to Cost More As Body Effects New Rules

Electricity and water tariffs could rise even further following a decision by the Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA) to impose a new charge on water users – including hydro power producers like KenGen and suppliers of tap water.

In the past, companies and individuals have drawn water for free from water sources, but that will have to change with the coming to force yesterday of the new water rules announced and officially launched by the Minister for Water Resources and Irrigation, Mr John Munyes.

Although the WRMA will not charge consumers directly, the new fees charged on KenGen and water services companies will ultimately be passed on to them in form of higher tariffs.

Water service providers who handle at least 220 million cubic meters of water every year will be charged them 50 cents per cubic metre, generating at least Sh110 million annually. The new money will be used to improve water delivery services in areas suffering from severe acute of shortage of water. The WRMA clarified that the new charges will not apply to small scale water users.

Sources: The Nation / allAfrica.com, 9 Apr 2008 ; Steve Mbogo, Business Daily / allAfrica.com, 9 Apr 2008

Zambia: Regulatory Alliance holds National Consumer Conference

On 24th and 25th January 2008, delegates from across the country gathered in Lusaka for the first National Consumer Conference under the theme: “Consumer you have the power: Towards an enlightened consumer in a liberalized economy.”

The conference which was organized by the Regulatory Alliance comprising of the Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ), Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and the National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) sought to raise awareness on the roles and responsibilities of consumers, service providers and regulators of telecommunications, energy and water and sanitation services; avail service providers an opportunity to outline the challenges and prospects and to provide a platform for consumers to offer suggestions for improvement in the quality of service.

Read more: NWASCO