Angry residents threaten court action as water firm doubles tariffs

Mama Lucy Kariuki protest in Eldoret over the increase of water tariff by Eldowas Water and Sanitation in Uasin Gishu County on November 13, 2024.  [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Residents are bracing for the highest rise in water bills after Eldoret City’s water company increased tariffs by 251 per cent.

The increase, which came into effect on October 7, has sparked outrage. A group of displeased residents led by Kipkorir Menjo today started collecting signatures to challenge the decision by the Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (Eldowas) in court.

Patrick Chirchir, who has been paying a monthly average of Sh600 for water, expressed shock when he discovered that his October bill had increased to Sh2,336.

“I thought that it was an error only to hear my neighbours in Kapsoya complaining that they had received abnormal water bills,” he said.

Jorim Okello, who lives in Kapsoya, said his bill rose from Sh800 in September to Sh4,006 last month.

“Eldowas normally sends water bills as short text messages. Shockingly, they increased water bills without sending a single message to notify me of the new rates.”

Some asked Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii to pile pressure on the company, whose county government is the principal shareholder, to revert to the old tariffs.

A trader, Zulfikar Bazhu, said the new water bills were more expensive than milk. “I spend Sh1,400 monthly on milk and my water bill has increased from an average of Sh1,400 per month to Sh7,000. This is outrageous. We go to restaurants and they are telling us that the cost of water will be passed to customers,” he said.

“Eldoret will be the most expensive city to live in and many investors will flee.”

But Eldowas has defended the sudden rise, saying more revenue would enable it to overhaul its water and sewerage infrastructure.

Head of Commercial Services, Fredrick Kosgei, said the charges were approved by the Water Services Regulatory Board (Wasreb) and gazetted a month before they came into effect.

He said adequate public participation was conducted in the review process that began last year.

Kosgei said the process started after Wasreb approved a proposal to raise funds to overhaul water pipelines and sewerage systems.

According to Eldowas, the increase would help it raise over Sh2.2 billion it requires to overhaul water pipeline and sewerage trunk lines, projects Kosgei says were designed to give Eldoret its true city status.

“We need more money for monumental projects. Our new sewerage trunk lines will cost approximately Sh1.6 billion and new water lines will cost up to Sh600 million,” he said, adding that a number of water lines were established during the colonial period.

“We are aware that the increase has caused uproar but we appeal to Eldoret residents to bear with us because we are on course to stop frequent bursting of sewerage systems during rainy seasons. This is for a worthy cause.”

The company explained that the October bills include charges for this month’s seven days.

A review of water tariffs in Eldoret was last done in the 2018/2019 financial year.

In September, Eldowas Chairman David Sing’oei said the company was spending more than it was collecting, with financial records indicating it raised Sh840 million last year and spent Sh450 million on salaries.

“We are projecting to collect Sh1.4 billion this financial year, with the increased tariffs. We are assuring customers that we will revert to the previous tariff as soon as we complete the planned projects,” said.