Queries after 55 million litres of free Covid-19 water 'go missing' in Nairobi

At least 55 million litres of water valued at Sh17.3 million, supplied to informal settlements in Nairobi during the Covid-19 pandemic, cannot be accounted for, a report by the auditor-general has shown.

This comes with the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company on the spot for failing to account for Sh2.4 billion in trucked water supplies revenue.

In the report for the financial year ended June 2021, the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) indicated that 277,273 cubic metres of water (277,273,000 litres) was supplied to informal settlements during the period under review.

However, records on billed water indicated that the NMS water tankers supplied 332,719.10 cubic metres (332,719,100 litres).

This resulted in a variance of 55,446 cubic metres (55,446,000 litres), amounting to Sh17.36 million at Sh0.3125 per litre.

Further, work tickets to NMS bowsers used to supply the free water did not disclose the water supply destinations.

According to the audit report, no explanation was provided for the variance between the two sets of data.

“In the circumstances, the quantity and value of water supplied to informal settlements could not be confirmed,” the report states.

Further, the 17 browsers operated by the NMS were reported to have consumed 103,916 litres of fuel, a cost of Sh9.8 million which was incurred by Nairobi Water.

In April 2020, the then President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the NMS to expand its provision of free water to all informal settlements to help contain the spread of Covid-19.

According to a report by Athi Water Works Development Authority, at least 16 million litres of water was being supplied daily as part of the interventions.

Appearing before the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee on Tuesday,, Nairobi Water Managing Director Nahashon Muguna said the company gave water free to informal settlements as directed by the national government.

He explained that the 22 NMS tankers ferried the water to the slums, doing at least four trips daily, with water sourced from Globe roundabout and the Kenya School of Monetary Studies.

Nonetheless, Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda asked why the company failed to keep records of the tankers used and the water supplied.

In his response, Mr Muguna said the work tickets document is very bulky - the reason why they failed to attach the entire record.

“Even if the work ticket did not show everything, every slum received water at least four times daily,” said Governor Johnson Sakaja.

On the water revenue shortfall, the report indicated that records by the company’s commercial department showed that 21 bowsers drew 8,039,437 cubic metres, which should have resulted in a revenue of Sh2.5 billion.

However, the firm only declared Sh16.6 million in its records, failing to provide any explanation for the revenue shortfall estimated at Sh2.49 billion.

The water bowsers were supplying water at a cost of Sh2,500 and Sh5,000 for 8,000 and 16,000 litres trucks, respectively.

The report further indicated that work tickets for the water tankers reflected movement from a location named Nairobi Metropolitan to Industrial Area and back.

This, according to the auditor,means that the location that the water supplies were drawn from and trucked to could not be confirmed.

“In the circumstances, the accuracy and completeness of the income totaling Sh16.69 million reported thereof could not be confirmed,” said the auditor.

Mr Muguna, however, said the Sh2.5 billion in question is an exaggeration and that there is no way 8,039,437 cubic metres of water could have been supplied during the period under review.

“Over eight million cubic metres of water is too much. If we were to supply such an amount of water, we would have flooded the whole of Nairobi with water. It is impossible to have distributed such a quantity,” he said.

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