Fresh water crisis hits Coast region over Sh1.2bn debt

A water crisis has hit counties at the Coast after supplies were cut over a Sh1.2 billion debt.

The Coast Water Services Board (CWSB) shut down main water lines to Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale, demanding payment from the counties.

In Mombasa, the shortage has affected more than 1.5 million residents after water supply was disconnected at Mazeras.

Even as residents of Changamwe, Kisauni, Bamburi, Nyali and Jomvu, among other areas, went without water for the fourth day, the commodity was going to waste and has flooded the Mombasa-Nairobi highway at Mazeras.

The board’s reservoirs are full to the brim, resulting in excess water overflowing just before the disconnection point.

Mombasa County Water Executive Fatima Awale accused the board of being inconsiderate by disconnecting the water and allow it to go to waste while the residents were suffering.

The parastatal is demanding at least Sh1.2 billion from Mombasa, Kwale, Taita-Taveta, Tana River, Kilifi and Malindi Town. The bill was incurred by the defunct municipalities, and county governments inherited it.

In August, Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa asked the board to reconnect the water and allow negotiations on how to settle the bill.

Mombasa is required to pay Sh608 million, while Kilifi has a debt of Sh288 million.

Taita-Taveta has to part with Sh121 million, while Kwale owes the parastatal more than Sh140 million.

Malindi Sub-County has to pay at least Sh140 million.

“The board has breached the agreement we made when the Cabinet Secretary was here. He asked us to sit and agree on how the bill was arrived at and how it can be paid. Why should they disconnect us when we have not refused to pay?” said Ms Awale.

She warned that the lives of more than 1.5 million were in danger following the disconnection.

However, CWSB Chief Executive Officer David Kanui insisted that reconnection of supplies would only be done after full payment of the outstanding amounts.
He said the Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company is collecting enough money, which it should be paying.

In Kilifi, the CWSB shut down the mains at the Baricho water station.

The board is owed cash by both the Kilifi Water and Sewerage Company (KWSC) and the Malindi Water and Sewerage Company. The water shortage has affected more than two million residents in the county since Saturday.

Kilifi County Water Executive Kiringi Mwachitu said the locals had turned to boreholes and wells, which was not good for their health.

He spoke as he prepared to convene a crisis meeting between directors of the KWSC and their counterparts from Malindi.

Kwale Water and Sewerage Company Managing Director Athman Chembea said: “We have realised that cutting water supply will never be a solution. That is why we decided to have this meeting in order to engage our clients,” he said.

In Changamwe, Mrs Margaret Obwoge, a resident of Magongo, told the Nation that the water people were buying from vendors could cause health problems.

Reported by Laban Robert, Kazungu Samuel and Farouk Mwabege.