Financial management aspect on sustainability of community water supply projects in Kieni west district, Nyeri County, Kenya.

Abstract

Kieni west District has been categorized as one of the arid and semiarid areas in Kenya with rampant water scarcity (Republic of Kenya, 2005). Due to this water scarcity problem the Kenya government has put a lot of efforts in providing its citizens with adequate and clean water. Under the economic and social pillars of Vision 2030, improved access to safe water sanitation in both rural and urban areas, and increasing the area under irrigation have been given prominence with the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply identified as some of the flagship projects. About 30 of these projects have been constructed in Kieni West District. However, despite all these efforts to supply people with clean, adequate and reliable water, the scarcity of the water resources is still rampant in the district because the financial management factors that influence sustainability of community water supply projects in Kieni west District. The objectives of this study was to establish if budgeting for operation and maintenance , water charges, financial administration and community financial monitoring contributes to sustainability of water supply projects. The literature review focused on the above objectives. The target population for the study was 150 water committee officials and the sample size was 110respondents who were selected using stratified sampling method. The data collection method used was self administered questionnaires with open and closed ended questionnaires. The study adopted descriptive data analysis. Key findings are that adequate understanding, identification and estimation of the operation and maintenance costs is critical for the sustainable delivery of water supply services; transparency of financial management is a key issue in community management in water projects and that water levies and fees charged for connection and usage, sustainability of the project will not be possible. The study recommends that the government should build the capacity of project committee members on prudent financial management, ministry of water should have an effective user fee collection system and that water should be used for productive purposes like agriculture to empower water users economically.