| dc.description.abstract | The study investigates how the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company
(NCWSC) handles illegal water connections in Nairobi City County (NCC), whose
high number caused much of the water company‘s revenue to be lost and led to water
shortages. Both methods were applied in the research: using statistics and
interviewing stakeholders. The study included a total of 1,250 people among the
participants, all from different stakeholder groups such as NCWSC officials, water
consumers, environmental organizations, local authorities, water vendors, community
leaders and makers of water policies. Applying Cochran‘s formula, we chose 295
participants and divided them according to their stakeholder group. In this section,
careful stratification was used to make sure each subgroup represented in the study
was well represented. For the qualitative study, 10–15 main informants who had
worked with water governance or illegal water connections were processed using
purposive sampling. The study achieved validity by testing both its content and
construct aspects. Experts looked over the content to confirm its meaning and the
statistical programs AMOS and MPLUS were used to assess construct validity.
Conducted using the Regulatory Compliance Theory and Social Exchange Theory,
the study exposed the fact that the NCWSC‘s decentralization provided
responsiveness, but its administrative difficulties and role repeated between teams
upset operational efficiency. Even with regulations in place, uneven application and
little help from the courts made the rules weak as deterrents. Participatory initiatives
were conducted, but youth and informal users did not participate enough. The
research showed that shortages of resources, risks of corruption, along with logistical
difficulties all posed additional difficulties whereby NCWSC faces substantial water
losses of 40% annually, affecting finances and service delivery. NCWSC produces
540 million litres per day against a demand of 900 million litres, leaving a shortfall of
360 million litres. Out of the water supplied, 300 million litres were being lost daily
through leaks. These losses translate into Kes. 10.6 billion annually, for effective
governance which is why updating the water laws, reinforcing the institutions and
improving collaboration were necessary to deal with illegal water use. It was also
suggested to use smart meters and locations maps to make monitoring and
enforcement more effective. The findings also suggest that future research should be
done for a longer period in many African cities to find better solutions and examine
broader impacts from information technology on illegal water connections | en_US |
