Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi, the capital city, is a large metropolis with a population of approximately 2.5 million. The city has a large commercial centre and a sprawling industrial area both of which provide most of the employment opportunities for the population. Informal settlements can be found in many parts of the industrial area.

Kibera, commonly believed to be the largest urban informal settlement in sub-Saharan Africa, consists of a number of villages and Gatwekera, at the west end of Kibera has a population of about 74,000 people.

The programme will provide sustainable and affordable water and sanitation to the residents of Gatwekera. Services in Gatwekera are hampered by the lack of a formal lay out. There are no formal roads along which pipes could be structured and access is difficult.

There are many legal customers in Gatwekera, but the Water Companies ability to visit houses and read meters to ensure good service is limited in many places. These problems, together with water losses through leaks and illegal connection led to a mass disconnection from the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) central water supply in September 2007.

Under the programme, new secondary and tertiary networks and water kiosks are being constructed, managed and maintained by community groups from within Gatwekera. The scheme will encompass the provision of water kiosks, toilet and washing services, drains and hygiene promotion for those without access to the regular supply. The programme will also build capacity of the local service providers to sustain the new services over time.

Key Achievements to Date

Demonstrated models of service delivery to the urban poor

• Sustainable service improvements for 87,000 urban poor for water and 9,500 for sanitation, demonstrating replicable models for the city’s 2,500,000 low income consumers

• Financially sustainable community managed sanitation facilities developed and working

• Systems demonstrated to improve service levels and reduce water losses in informal settlements

• Innovative commercial unit model under development, with operators providing localised sanitation and water services under contract from service authorities  

Strengthened institutional capacity to sustain improvement process

• Stronger utility – small independent provider linkages through NGO Forum and strengthened service contracts

• Series of governance workshops with city utility staff leading to strategies to improve low income customer management and communication, to eliminate illegal connections and formalise the service delivery

• Inputs into the social connection policy aimed at financing service expansion to the informal settlements

• Participatory planning process supported leading to sanitation improvement plan for low income neighbourhood of 120,000 people 

• Transfer of know how from other countries to Kenya to assist service improvements to the poor, including condominial sewerage systems, GIS, pro-poor unit structure and contracting mechanisms

Investment mobilised for scale up of models

• Substantial funding mobilised to assist city utility to extend the programme to new peri-urban communities

• Funding released from existing investment programmes

• Negotiations with lead IFIs on water component of large scale investment programme with a view to replication of demonstrated models

Successful models promoted to sector worldwide

• WSUP Programme presented at WEDC Conference in Addis Abba