| dc.description.abstract | Increasing economic difficulties and changes in prevailing ideologies in African
countries has since led to calls for a reduction in the role of the state in public service
provision. The thrust for public services, particularly water, has thus been more
towards commercialisation. Although well intended to help ensure a better and more
efficient management of water resources, this policy shift is arguably laden with
ambiguities that do not augur well for the consumers, especially the poor. In the
informal settlements, the water service provision has not improved, as various studies
show that commercialisation has contributed much less than expected to the
improvement of the water supply with many service providers both private and public
justifying the lack of service delivery in these areas with various reasons. Given that
most of the urban population growth is occurring in poor communities and
settlements, the task of reaching the un-served is becoming increasingly difficult. This
study sought to find out the challenges facing the current water supply system in
informal settlements and how these challenges can be addressed.
A review of literature in this field was undertaken which elucidates both on the
strengths and weakness of the various approaches used in water service delivery.
These include the purely public sector approach of state-owned monopoly whose
results have been disappointing as they are identified with high levels of waste and
inefficiency, and the private companies whose aim is profit maximization and who
find such areas not profitable or too risky, have also not achieved the desired status of
water service delivery.
The study demonstrates that indeed, singly, both approaches seem not to be an answer
for informal settlements. Out of the inadequacies and strengths of these approaches,
the study proposes an integrated model, which captures the strengths of the various
actors in the water sector including neglected but very important actor - the
community indicating each party's input and degree of participation for sustainable
water service delivery.
Both primary and secondary data were collected. The primary data was obtained from
70 household respondents sampled using the cluster sampling techniques. Thirty
water operators were sampled using the non-probability sampling technique with the
selection of the sample being deliberate. The key informants were also selected using
a non-probability sampling technique based on the researches judgment. Spatial data
such as the location of standpipes was collected using the Global Positioning System
(GPS). Spatial analysis as well as various descriptive and inferential statistical
analyses was performed. The information is graphically and spatially represented
using tables, bar graphs, pie charts and maps.
The analysis presents the main sources and method of water delivery, the types of
water providers and their areas of operation, the water distribution and coverage, the
challenges in delivery and the opinions of the community in Manyatta informal
settlement, Municipality of Kisumu.
In the examination of factors it was found that current system of commercialisation
has not improved the water supply to the poor in the informal settlements, as the level
of access is still poor and coverage still low. The majority of the residents prefer for
the management of the water supply to be handed over to Community Based
Organisations effective delivery of water services.
It is, therefore, recommended that a partnerships approach that includes a broad set of
actors be adopted and that this requires formal institutions to bring about legal and
procedural changes to .planning, policy formulation and providing partial financial
support. Secondly intermediaries should be included in the framework and their role
recognised. Thirdly, water utilities need to find ways to mobilise and tap into funds
from domestic financial markets and the small-scale providers should be legalised and
included in the framework. | en |
