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IMPACT 13: A performance Report of Kenya’s Water Services Sector 2019/20

An award ceremony was held on 18/10/2021 at the Sportsman Arms Hotel in Nanyuki  to recognize winners of the performance report of Kenya’s Water Services Sector 2019/20 Impact Issue no 13 where NYEWASCO emerged top in the following categories;

                     (1) Top performing utility overall number 1

                      (2) Top in very large category

                      (3) Top Tana region

                      (4) Top in Non Revenue Water

 The sector regulator (WASREB) released the report on 30th  June 2021.
In the report dubbed Impact 13, the performance of the water services sector for the financial year 2019/20 was reviewed. The regulator continues to develop and roll out a number of guidelines that are geared towards streamlining service provision and ensure the protection of the rights of the consumer. Some of these include; Business Planning, Water and Sanitation Services Provision in Rural and Underserved Areas, Water Safety Planning, Water Vending, Corporate Governance and Pro-Poor Water and Sanitation Services guidelines.
These guidelines serve as the yardstick with which WASREB uses to evaluate the performance of individual Water Services Providers (WSP’s) within one financial year.
Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company scooped the first position overall with 169 points out the possible 200 points. The company has held the number 1 position for the last 13 years in a row.

While receiving the trophies, the Managing Director Eng. Peter Kahuthu thanked the National Government, the County Government of Nyeri,  the board of directors and the entire staff  for their stellar performance and dedication which has resulted to the exemplary performance.

In addition, the chairman of the Board Technical Committee  Charles M. Kariuki who was representing the chairman of the board of directors Patrick Munuhe thanked all staff, esteemed customers and all stakeholders for the admirable performance. He also urged the NYEWASCO team to uphold the number one position and strive to improve on all other key performance indicators as the company strives to deliver quality services to her customers. He also expressed his gratitude to the County Government of Nyeri for its continued support under the leadership of H. E Governor Mutahi Kahiga.

 Nyeri County Executive Committee Member for the department of Water, Environment, Natural Resources and Sanitation Fredrick Kinyua reiterated the County Government’s commitment in supporting all the Water Services Providers in Nyeri County to enable them deliver on their mandate of delivering potable water and sanitation services to the residents of Nyeri County. He also urged the WSP’s from Tana region to invest in peer learning activities which will promote growth and improvement of their services.  He further challenged WASREB to involve policy makers at all levels during the award ceremonies so that they can understand the challenges faced by the water sector alluding to the fact this would largely affect resource allocation to the sector positively.

The short ceremony was held in observance of MOH guidelines on the Corona Virus Disease and was followed by data validation exercise for the 2020/21 performance.

Happy customer service week to all our esteemed customers. Today, as we continued serving you and appreciating you for the continued support that you have accorded to us through the year, few lucky customers were gifted a branded cap to appreciate them for being an integral part of the company! watch this space. We will close the customer service week in style!

Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Board of Directors led by chair Patrick Munuhe on September 13th 2021 embarked on an inspection exercise of all the company’s facilities to ensure that they are operating optimally. The tour which saw them visit the catchment area in River Chania and Zaina also took them to Ihwa intake, Kamakwa treatment plant, Kangemi sewer treatment plant, Mathari twin tank, Tetu tank, among other many other facilities.

The members of the board who were accompanied by the senior management also visited Nyeri Hill where the company plans to construct a water tank to increase supply efficiency. They also visited the proposed Baraka- Chaka water extension project phase which is intended to serve over 1,000 residents of Baraka estate in Kieni East Sub County to serve approximately 200 water connections in phase I. These proposed projects are some of the flagship projects planned for in the Strategic Plan 2021/22- 2025/26.

The directors were impressed by the status of the facilities and urged the company’s management to maintain the high standards found in all of them. Speaking during the tour, chair Patrick Munuhe congratulated all staff, customers and all other stakeholders for maintaining position one in the 2019/20 Wasreb Performance Report a position the company has held for the last 13 years as well as Non-Revenue Water champions in the recently released report by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation on Non- Revenue Water Management with a NRW ratio of 14%, the lowest in the country.

He also challenged them to do even better in the subsequent evaluations. Nyeri County Executive Committee Member for the department of Water, Environment, Natural Resources and Sanitation Fredrick Kinyua who joined the team in inspection of the proposed Baraka- Chaka water extension in Kieni. The CECM reiterated Nyeri County Government’s commitment in supporting the company as it delivers on its mandate of provision of clean and safe drinking water and sanitation services to the residents of Nyeri Central Sub County and its environs. He also commended the Board of Directors, management and all staff for excellent service delivery.

The Customer Care section spent their day in the heart of Kiawara in Nyeri Town serving our customers. The multi departmental team has been hailed by the customers for taking the services closer to them. This is being conducted under the customer sensitization exercise which seeks to educate them on services rendered, how to access them as well as resolving customer complaints. The team will head to Majengo on 16th September 2021 for the same exercise. The exercise is one of the Company’s interventions in Low Income Areas aimed at increasing access to clean water and sanitation services.

Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company is committed to the realization of the set target by the government of Kenya of making potable water and safe sanitation accessible to all by the year 2030 and United Nations SDG 6 which promotes the accessibility of clean water and sanitation for all.

The exercise was conducted in strict observance of the Ministry of Health guidelines on curbing the spread of the Corona Virus Disease. Customers were sanitized on arrival and each one of them was provided with a mask.

The performance appraisal system of any organization is a vital component of the health of the whole business cycle. The water sector and Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Ltd in particular is not an exception to this view. The increasing significance of performance appraisal processes and performance management systems is of fundamental importance to the performance of any organization. Thus what gets measured gets done. Performance appraisal is a significant component of performance management. Performance management seeks to achieve better results by understanding and managing employee performance with an established framework of planned goals, standards and competencies. It includes planning, developing, monitoring, rating, and rewarding employee contributions to business organisation. It is based on the principle of management by contract rather than by command.

Con­tin­u­ous per­for­mance man­age­ment cre­ates an ongo­ing dia­logue and an atmos­phere of trust, sup­port and encour­age­ment. It also helps devel­op a rela­tion­ship between employ­ee and the com­pa­ny. If an employ­ee is aware that their man­ag­er and the company cares about what they are doing and is ded­i­cat­ed to help­ing them do bet­ter and progress their career,  their commitment to their employer and motivation levels are likely to remain high.

It is this regard that NYEWASCO has embarked on an ambitious performance contracting exercise which commenced on 27^th July – 30^th July at the Kenya School of Government, Embu Campus. The training was aimed at equipping supervisors across all departments with knowledge of how to handle the per­for­mance man­age­ment process which com­bines infor­ma­tion gath­ering through mon­i­tor­ing goal com­ple­tion, feed­back and dis­cus­sions. By analyzing suc­cess­es, strengths, learn­ing from mis­takes and exam­in­ing poten­tial for growth and devel­op­ment, NYEWASCO will devel­op tal­ent, enhance indi­vid­ual per­for­mance and weed out prob­lems.

For Mary Wangui Kigia, a resident of Ndurutu Village, Kerichu Division, Nyeri County, Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Ltd is a life saver that shall remain etched in her memory lane. Wangui, a beneficiary of a free water connection is full of life even at her advanced age. The free connection was implemented under the aegis of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through the Pro- Poor department.

NYEWASCO is committed to conducting her business and affairs in a socially responsible, sustainable and meaningful way taking into account ethics, the environment and society at large. The CSR programme is part of the company’s plan to continue to build trust and public confidence through public awareness and strong stake holder engagement. It is also an avenue of embracing responsibility for the impact of the company’s activities on the environment which is why Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Ltd is a big campaigner of Environmental conservation through the “Conserve the Environment today, it will save you tomorrow” imitative. The initiative aims at not only planting, but also growing trees from the seedbed to maturity. The company has established an arboretum at Kiganjo sewer pumping station where over 20,000 trees have been planted in 2021 so far. The arboretum which is projected to be fully operational by 2024, will be open to the public and will host a football pitch for the youth.

The upgrade exercise of the Ruring’u township and rural areas corridor supply network which has been ongoing in phases is still ongoing. The technical team is working on the lower stadium stretch which is approximately 1.0 kilometers. The objective of the upgrade is to increase the volume of water supply to customers in Ruring’u and the adjacent areas which has been informed by an increase in demand. The team is also working on customer meters re alignment, servicing and raising meter covers.
The upgrade has also been necessitated by the regular pipe bursts experienced in this section as a result of the poor state of the PVC pipes.
The exercise involves replacement of old dilapidated PVC and galvanized iron pipes with larger High-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes. This will kill two birds with one stone in that apart from increasing the volume of water to customers, it will also decrease the amount of water lost through pipe bursts and leakages also known as non- revenue water.
Customers in Ruring’u, Kunyiha, Atlas, Florida and Safaricom rural, Wamai, Castro, Stadium B and the adjacent areas are expected to notice an improvement in supply as soon as the upgrade of the section is completed. The company is committed to improving the customer experience in all its services.

Did you know that water theft through illegal connections or meter by-passes, self connection after cut off for non- payment is a criminal offence punishable by law? The following penalties applies:
1. ILLEGAL CONNECTION: Commercial, Industry, Construction fraud- Sh. 100,000 plus estimated consumption during the period of illegality.
2. ILLEGAL WATER CONNECTION FRAUD DOMESTIC- Sh.30,000.
3. SELF CONNECTION after cut off for non payment Sh. 5000 and billing backdated from date of cut off.
These penalties have been set by Water Services Regulatory Board (The Kenya Gazette No. 2188 ) to deter water theft and failure to pay may lead to a jail term.
Last week, a man was who was involved in water theft was caught by our security & investigation department whose mandate is to weed out the vice. He was taken to Central Police Station where he was booked and is out on cash bail. He is required to pay for the penalty and billing backdated from the date of cut off. The total sum has escalated way above what he owed before the illegal connection and failure to pay will lead to criminal charges being brought against him. It is not worth the trouble. Get a legitimate water connection to avoid these penalties. Our team is on the ground verifying all water and sewer connections.
We urge our customers to report to us any case of water theft, illegal water and sewer connections, illegal discharge of waste water in un-designated points, meter vandalism and theft to the nearest police station or to us through the following communication channels:
1. Facebook@nyewasco
2. Twitter@watee_nyeri
3. Toll free phone number 0800721095
4. Phone number 0734732481
Email
Let’s stop mwizi together. Help us serve you better.