Commercializing local government water departments

Among the primary responsibilities of municipal councils in Kenya is, development, operation, maintenance and expansion of the infrastructure required to ensure the provision of potable water and adequate sanitation services. The level at which these services are provided in many Local Authorities leaves a lot to be desired. Before these services can improve changes will be required in the institutional framework, amongst other things. This fact has been recognised by the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG), and the Government of the Republic of Germany, who have invested some US$330 million in the sector in recent years. The MolG, supported by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), has therefore established the Urban Water and Sanitation Management Project (UWASAM) within the Urban Development Department (UDD) of the Ministry.The project aims at assisting water-undertaking Local Authorities in attaining self-sustainability of their water and sanitation services.