EFFECTIVENESS OF DEVOLUTION ON SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER SUPPLY IN KENYA: A CASE OF ATHI WATER WORKS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Daniel Ng’ang’a - Masters Student, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Patrick Mbataru - Lecturer, Kenyatta University. Kenya
ABSTRACT
Kenya's water industry has experienced a number of reforms, the most recent of which being the adoption of the Water Act 2016 in April 2017. With regard to the provisions of the 2010 Kenyan Constitution that devolve water and sanitation services to county governments, the new law brought national water management and service provision into compliance. In Kenya, the counties that are the owners of the water service providers mandate is providing water services (WSPs). The 2010 Constitution's implementation and effects are still being felt. This study should help us better comprehend how the county's reality is developing. It is crucial to comprehend how well the decentralized systems offer services. The goal of this study is to determine whether devolution has a positive impact on the long-term viability of Kenya's Athi Water's water service providers. Decision-making, management, lobbying, involvement and consensus building, research, and analysis all require careful consideration of sustainability. The Athi Water Works Development Authority's water service providers was the focus in the study's analysis of the effects of devolution on them. Water resource management, strategies frequently include conflicts. The game theory and resource dependence theory assesses how stakeholder actions, often intended to improve things and create a win-win scenario, can instead make things worse for everyone involved. Cross-sectional survey and descriptive research designs anchor the study. Thirteen Water Services Providers (WSPs), registered and spread out across three counties made up the study's population. Open and closed surveys were the data collection tools. Regression modeling was used in compiling, coding, and evaluating the data gathered from each WSP in order to determine the link between the various variables. Additionally, data presentation will be through means and percentages. The study offer crucial baseline data on the viability of the water service providers' economies under devolution and the extent of the Water Act 2016's repeal. The water service providers anticipate using the study's findings to address sustainability-related challenges.