News & Press

The Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company (Nyewasco) has unveiled a new strategic plan that seeks to steer the service provider to greater heights. The 2021/2022- 2025/2026 Strategic plan is a key milestone for the over two decade-old water service provider. Incorporated in 23rd September 1997, Nyewasco can trace its birth to the late 1950s. The first infrastructure was set up in 1959. However, for now Nyewasco has only one water source which is the Chania River. “We have to credit our fore bearers, the visionary engineers who came up with the idea and infrastructure that we now rely on because we are building on what they set up decades ago,” Eng. Kahuthu noted. The Nyeri Water Supply Project was the flagship project, for the company which was largely supported by German Technical Cooperation through GTZ in its establishment. Nyewasco undertook the project in early 2004, that ensured the construction of the treatment plant which increased water production from 6,000 cc to a capacity of 27000cc. The project also improved the water quality provided by the company which is one of the reasons, the company has been propelled to the best water service provider in Kenya for over 12 years. While water provision has 98 per cent coverage for over 100,000 residents. plans to be implemented in the 5-year strategic plan.

The company has remained committed to its core values which are; customer service, ownership, environmental consciousness, continual improvement, teamwork & efficiency, research & innovation and corporate social effectiveness. According to Eng. Kahuthu, the company attributes one of the key factors contributing to her success to the support from the County Government of Nyeri under the stewardship of H.E Governor Mutahi Kahiga. “I am grateful for the support accorded to us by Nyeri Governor H. E Mutahi Kahiga in terms of provision of financial resources and implementation of projects, while allowing us to carry out our mandate without interference, which has led to the gradual growth of Nyewasco,” noted Eng. Kahuthu. In addition, Eng. Kahuthu noted that Nyewasco’s exemplary performance can be attributed to the good leadership by the late MD CPA Peter Gichaaga, who grew the company to greater heights jointly with the board of directors.

“Together with a formidable team, supportive board of directors who provide the company with the necessary oversight to carry ou our duties,” noted Eng. Kahuthu. Further, Nyewasco attributes her continued success to the excellent performance of all its members of staff. They are well acquainted with their responsibilities for efficiency and effectiveness and are continually motivated through training and team building activities.

“Nyewasco has incorporated technology in terms of communication and payments, which has significantly improved our services, especially during these Covid-19 times. We have also adopted the new systems in the market that have heavily reduced our wastage for instance, in non-revenue water, we have maintained the non-revenue water at 15percent and in billing systems, the technology has enabled us to serve our customers with minimal errors and at their convenience,” added Eng. Kahuthu.

Challenges

The company has faced, financial constraints with the main issue being inadequate fund mobilization for projects, without any subsidies, the company relies on internally generated funds and support from the County Government and National Government. Lack of adequate water storage threatens water security for the company because the l There is a need for a Strategic Water Reservoir to address this challenge, Nyewasco the Company is working closely with the National Government through TWWDA & CGN to realize the vision of constructing a Mega Dam/ Multipurpose Dam (Muhoya Dam) at Zaina Forest.

Also, Nyewasco is working to overcome, the high energy costs increasing the business risk, hence prompting the company to explore alternative energy sources including solar energy and Hydro-Power. In 2017, the Company celebrated 20 years since it was incorporated, and also the previous strategic plan, for 2016/17- 2021/2022. This strategic plan underwent a midterm review and they noted, they have implemented 85 per cent of the strategic objectives. However, the plan expires in June 2021, and therefore there is a need for the introduction of the new strategic plan to propel the company to meet its goals in the coming five years. Truly, Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company have lived true to its mission, which is ‘To provide quality water, sewerage and allied services at commercially and environmentally sustainable levels’. The key strategic themes are Corporate Governance, Financial Health, Service Delivery, Low[1]income Areas and their customers, Human Resource Capacity, Environmental Consciousness among stakeholders and Partnerships and Collaborations.

Under the new strategic plans, the company has expanded the values to strive towards.

These include,

Customer-Centric: Putting customer first and at the core of the business.

Professionalism: Reliability, Competence, Dependability and Respect.

Innovativeness: Ability to challenge industry norms and provide solutions.

Teamwork: Harnessing contribution of every partner.

 Integrity: Guided by sound moral and ethical principles.

Responsiveness: Providing value within an acceptable time.

Result Oriented: Focus on outcome.

Key achievements

• Developed Performance Management scheme including policy and tools.
• Timely implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
• Active in Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) activities. • Reviewed and updated the Customer Service Charter. • Adoption and Integration of pro-poor policy in the company’s activities.
• ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accreditation of its laboratory services. • Evaluated for the 12th time in a row as the Best performing WSP during the WASREB impact report of 2019/2020.
• Repayment of loans without defaulting up to date. • Continued provision of services on a 24/7 basis.
• Water Extension to LIAs and informal settlements

The Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Ltd introduced a new pro- poor tariff which took effect in the month of April. The tariff which takes into consideration the needs of customers in the low income areas who are the majority, charges Ksh 47 per cubic meter which is also referred to as a unit of water. The cost of production of one unit is Ksh 66.08. This translates to a Ksh 19.08 subsidy per unit. This will go a long way in reducing the burden of the low consumers in accessing clean and safe water for domestic use.

On the other hand, it costs Ksh 52.12 to clean one unit of waste water. However, the consumers who fall under the lower cluster of consumption will be charged Ksh 45 enjoying a subsidy of Ksh 7.12.

A survey conducted by the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) on the company’s service area showed that 72% of the consumers are poor and consumed a maximum of 6 units per month. As such there was need to review the tariff and come up with a structure which subsidized the rates for this group of customers. The successful implementation of this tariff will help the company to dispense its mandate effectively while taking care of the people living in the low income areas.

Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Limited Board of Directors, Senior Management and a Consultant engaged through a strategic partnership between the company and Dedan Kimathi University of Technology completed a two-day strategic planning workshop in Nakuru on 19^th February 2021. During the workshop, the management appraised the board of directors on flagship projects planned to be undertaken during the implementation of the strategic plan for the planning period 2021/22- 2025/26. The strategic plan being formulated will take effect in July 2021 after the expiry of the current strategic plan 2016/17- 2020/21 which has successfully shaped the strategic direction of the company for five years.

The Directors led by the Chairman Patrick Munuhe and the County Government of Nyeri represented by the Chief Officer in the department of Water, Environment, Natural Resources and Sanitation Pauline Ndegwa and the County Executive Committee Member (CEC) Fredrick Kinyua participated in robust discussions on priority projects that the company would undertake during the next five years so as to improve service delivery of quality water and sanitation services to the residents of Nyeri Central Sub County.

Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company Ltd received a Conditional liquidity support grant through the Water Services Trust Fund from the World Bank and other development partners to finance operating costs to ensure efficient water supply during the Covid 19 emergency response interventions. A short grant agreement signing exercise was conducted on 04/02/2021 at Maji house which houses the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation offices in Nairobi.
NYEWASCO has been playing a critical role in the fight against the spread of Covid 19 since its outbreak early last year. The company constructed 64 free hand washing points in strategic places such as bus stops, health facilities among others targeting members of public to increase access to clean running water for hand washing in an effort to mitigate the spread of Covid 19. The company in consultation with the County Government of Nyeri also waved water bills for customers in low income area of Witemere in Nyeri town in the month of April 2020 to enable the residents to combat the spread of the Corona virus by maintaining high standards of sanitation. The free hand washing points are active to date. Proper hand washing with soap and running water has been identified as one of the effective methods of combating the spread of Covid 19 virus by the World Health Organization.
During the ceremony, cabinet secretary in the ministry of Water,Sanitation and Irrigation Cicily Kariuki reiterated the national government’s commitment to increase water and sanitation coverage in the country to 80 and 40% respectively up from water coverage of 69% and sanitation coverage of 26 %. This target is set to be achieved in one calendar year. The cabinet secretary urged all stakeholders to work together since the achievement of the targets will take concerted efforts.

Nyeri Water and Sanitation Company testing and calibration laboratories are among the first laboratories to have undergone the stringent assessment and successfully transitioned to the new ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 Standard accreditation in Kenya. This gives increased confidence on the accuracy and reliability of the results issued from the laboratories for the period Jan 2020- November 2024.
Our Services:
The laboratory offers sampling and testing services from various water sources as follows;
• Drinking Water e.g. treated piped water, bottled water etc.
• Surface Water e.g. Rivers, streams, dams, etc.
•Groundwater e.g. Boreholes, wells, springs etc.
• Mineral Water e.g. Bottled water etc.
• Deionize Water
• Effluent Water e.g. Raw sewage and final effluents
Our lab also serves as National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) reference lab.
Pay us a visit today for exemplary services.

IMPACT 12: A performance Report of Kenya’s Water Services Sector 2018/19

An award ceremony was held on 25/01/2021 at the White Rhino Hotel Nyeri County to recognize winners of the performance report of Kenyas’ Water Services Sector 2018/19 Impact Issue no 12 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 6th July 2020.
In the report dubbed Impact 12, the performance of the water services sector for the financial year 2018/19 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 177 points out the possible 200 points.
This is an improvement from FY 2017/2018 where it scored 163 points. The company has held the number 1 position for the last 12 years in a row.

While receiving the trophies, the  Ag. MD Eng. Peter Kahuthu thanked the entire staff and the board of directors for their stellar performance and dedication which has seen them achieve this success as well as the exemplary leadership of the late MD CPA Peter Gichaaga during whose tenure the report was conducted.

In addition, the chairman of the board of directors Mr. Patrick Munuhe thanked all staff, esteemed customers and all stakeholders for the exemplary performance. He also urged the NYEWASCO team to uphold the number one positions won 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.

Eng. Robert Gakubia lauded the company’s management for their continued good performance and their commitment to the data validation exercise for FY 2019/20 which is being conducted in the same venue.