THE PEOPLE'S WATER ASSEMBLY
African home you will be served drinking water for free.
On 16 September 2024, we attended the people’s assembly convened by Women Collective Kenya (WCK) at MCEDO in Mathare. The assembly was attended by members from the Kayole Community Justice Centre, Kiamaiko, Mathare Social Justice Centre, Kabete, Rongo, Uganda and Tana river. The assembly reflected on the success story of petitioning Nairobi County on Nairobi County Water and Sewerage Bill, after the protest in Nairobi where we presented our petition to the county government. The county government organized a meeting in Naivasha where we attended, raised our collective concerns and the bill was quashed.
The government went further to introduce a water bill in the national assembly and senate that give them room to privatize water.
Nairobi gets water from Muranga County. We have companies such as Muthaini, two Rivers,Runda Water and Kikuyu water which buy water with a different tariff which is not publicly known by people.
Coca-Cola and East Breweries Companies are apparently the first priority when it comes to water service delivery in the city, this shows how profit has been given priority before people.
Coca-Cola and East Breweries Companies are apparently the first priority when it comes to water service delivery in the city, this shows how profit has been given priority before people. According to habitat international spacio-temporal patterns of domestic water distribution, consumption and suffiency in Nairobi inequalities neighborhoods reports the People in informal settlements get only 30% of the overall supply of water in Nairobi, affluent areas get 40% and
private companies such as Coca-Cola and East Africa Breweries get 30%. This is the greatest inequality.
The state is introducing smart meters for water, this is a process of turning a natural resource to a commodity for profit, they have already introduced water police. Access to clean and safe water will be a privilege for the few. This is against our constitution as stated under the Social and Economic Rights article 43 (d) every person has the right to clean and safe water in adequate quantities.
We launched the Blue Communities Campaign that is a collective of social movements from Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. We had the following agreements:
1. No to drip system.
2. Water is a human right, water is life.
3. Water is a public: We say NO to Smart Meters
4. Water should be clean and Safe from the source.
Way forward:
1. Organize water people’s assemblies in different counties
2. Petition the parliament and senate on the water privatization bill
3. Reject water smart meters.
4. Reject water police.
5. Reject plastic bottled water.