Water vendors threaten to sue Mombasa county government

Water gushes from the main pipe at Kibarani in Mombasa Friday last week. Parts of the county have no water due to the ongoing standoff between vendors and the county government. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

MOMBASA: Over 800 water vendors yesterday threatened to sue the county government for revoking their licences.

The vendors accused the government of disrupting their business, despite having paid Sh10,000 each for the annual licence. The vendors said that they pay their monthly water bills promptly.

Yesterday, most parts of the county that are served by the vendors were hit by a water shortage as the standoff between the vendors and the county government, which begun last week, continued. 

Mombasa Water Kiosks Operators (MWKO) Chairman Gabriel Amok warned that members of the association would go to court if the county government did not rescind the directive.

Last week, Mombasa County said it had revoked licences of 2,500 vendors in the six sub-counties, accusing them of exploiting their customers.

Governor Hassan Joho described the water kiosk operators as "ruthless profiteers out to fleece the residents".

He blamed the perennial shortage of the essential commodity in the county to illegal connections which had made the county unable to pay its bills to Coast Water and Services Board.

"We cannot sit back and watch as people buy a 20-litre jerrycan of water at Sh50 up from the recommended Sh2," said the governor.

The vendors accused Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company (Mowasco) of inflating the price of water, forcing them to review their prices. Mr Amok said while the vendors charged the stipulated Sh2 per for 20-litre containers, most buyers used 23-litre containers hurting their profits.

"We believe Governor Joho has been fed with false information that led to revocation of licences. We are legitimately licenced vendors and we have invested heavily in the business. We will definitely go to court if we are not allowed to resume business," he said.

MWKO Secretary Elizabeth Mbuli said those who sold water for above Sh5 were cart pushers and opportunistic businessmen who took advantage of the shortage of the commodity to inflate prices.

"If anything, we as vendors have no control over the prices set by the cart vendors and those who buy water from Mowasco and sell at exorbitant prices," she said. There are 1,007 kiosks in Changamwe and 1,053 in Kisauni.