Kenya does not primarily suffer from water scarcity. It suffers from water governance failure. Despite billions invested in dams, boreholes and donor-funded urban projects, households and businesses continue to experience unreliable supply.
Meanwhile, non-revenue water in major utilities remains stubbornly high, in some cases exceeding 40 percent. That is not a hydrological crisis. It is a management crisis.
Water should be treated as economic infrastructure — no different from roads, ports or energy. Yet unlike energy sector reforms of the early 2000s, water reforms have stalled at the level of policy rhetoric. Utilities remain politically exposed, tariff adjustments are often delayed for electoral reasons, and capital expenditure decisions are rarely insulated from short-term pressures.
The result is predictable: underpriced water, weak balance sheets, stalled investment and recurring bailouts. From a business perspective, this creates systemic risk. Manufacturing, real estate, agriculture and hospitality all depend on a predictable water supply. Investors price uncertainty. When water governance is weak, capital becomes expensive.
Three reforms would fundamentally shift the sector. First, professionalise utility boards. Appointments should prioritise financial, engineering and governance expertise rather than political patronage.
Utilities are commercial entities under public ownership; they must be governed as such.
Second, depoliticise tariff setting. Sustainable pricing does not mean punitive pricing. It means predictable, regulator-driven adjustments that allow utilities to invest and service debt.
Third, unlock blended finance. Kenya has a significant opportunity to attract climate-linked financing for water storage, reuse and efficiency projects. But investors require credible institutions, bankable utilities and transparent governance frameworks.
Water security is economic security. The counties that get water governance right will attract industry, urban growth and agricultural productivity. Those that do not will continue to firefighting droughts and rationing crises.
The debate must shift from “who controls water” to “who governs it competently.” Until that happens, no amount of new dams will fix what is fundamentally an institutional problem.
Prof Collins Miruka is the Director of the School of Business and Management Studies at The Technical University of Kenya (TUK)
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