Dry Promises

By: Lara Sewers

“The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, affordable, physically accessible, safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses. While those uses vary between cultures, an adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce the risk of water-related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements.”[1]

The right to water encompasses the freedom to access existing water supplies and the freedom from interference, such as arbitrary disconnections or contamination of water supplies. Water should be treated as a social good and not as an economic commodity.

These words artfully express what access to water should be regarded as. Unfortunately, for the poor in
Kenya, this is very far from reality. Millions of Kenyans lack access to adequate and safe supply of water. The poor, of course, pay the highest burden. Children grow up in slums next to rivers of raw sewage. Community bathrooms charge a daily fee per person that renders them out of reach for many poor Kenyans.

In certain urban areas, as much as 93% of low income residents lack access to main water connections. Those who live further away from the cities must travel long distances to purchase expensive but dirty water. Regardless of the poor quality of the water, those who purchase water at kiosks face a higher cost than wealthy families with private connections.

The problem affecting most low income urban residents is that water companies cannot supply water to households in the slums due to their temporary status. But little is done to remedy this situation or find viable alternatives.

However, even those privileged enough to have private lines have to invest in storage tanks to supplement an inadequate supply, a luxury that very few can afford. Those “unlucky” ones are left to rely on alternative sources, such as rainfall and rivers which very often are contaminated. The fact that garbage collection is extremely deficient worsen the situation by contributing to the contamination of the few sources of water available to those who cannot afford to buy it.

Political elites are not ignorant of the situation, they acknowledge and seem concerned about the gravy of the problem when it suits them; election time. Most government officers promise to ensure essential services and election after election, voters are still waiting.

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[1] UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “Substantive Issues Arising in the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: General Comment No. 15,” E/C.12/2002/11, (Jan. 20, 2003). Available at: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94?Opendocument

 

2 allAfrica.com: “Water is a Basic Human Right and Must be Provided,” (Sept. 19, 2007). Available at: http://allafrica.com/stories/200709200956.html.