Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has proposed new penalties for residents who deliberately prevent county officials from accessing their water meters—a move aimed at reducing revenue loss and enhancing service delivery by the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC).
Governor Sakaja made this proposal during a session with the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee on Monday, July 21.
He explained that county meter readers are frequently unable to access water meters located inside residential properties, primarily because homeowners are often not present during the day.
He further noted that even when house helps are available at home, they are usually given firm instructions not to allow any outsiders in, which makes it almost impossible for county officials to take accurate meter readings.
“In several gated estates, our teams are routinely blocked from accessing the meters, and this significantly disrupts proper billing and long-term planning,” Sakaja explained. “We are now strongly considering imposing fines on individuals who knowingly obstruct access to these meters.”
To deal with the problem more effectively in the long run, Sakaja revealed that his administration is looking into installing smart water meters.
These devices offer greater precision and can be read remotely without the need for physical access. However, they come at a much higher cost. While the traditional meters cost about Ksh3,500 each, the smart versions are priced at approximately Ksh15,000.
Because of this steep cost, Sakaja said the roll-out of smart meters would need to be carefully planned and implemented in gradual stages to ensure the budget can accommodate the expenses.
As part of immediate solutions, Sakaja disclosed that Nairobi Water has already started moving some water meters from inside private compounds to positions just outside residential gates. This is expected to make access much easier for meter readers.
In addition, the utility company has begun sending SMS alerts to customers, encouraging them to read their own meters and report the figures, especially when access is denied to county officials.
Nahashon Muguna, the Managing Director of NCWSC, who also attended the committee meeting, supported the governor’s remarks. He said that about 15,000 of the city’s 250,000 water meters go unread each month due to restricted access. This contributes to major revenue losses amounting to millions of shillings.
“Our field officers do their best, but they are often turned away at the gates—mainly because domestic workers have been told not to open up to anyone,” Muguna lamented.
He also pointed out another big issue the water company is grappling with: unpaid water bills, particularly from government-run institutions such as public schools. Since cutting off water supply to these facilities isn’t a feasible option, the debts continue to pile up over time.
Despite all these operational hurdles, Muguna proudly noted that Nairobi Water achieved a record-breaking revenue collection in the most recent financial year. The company brought in Ksh11.7 billion, up from Ksh10.75 billion in the 2023/2024 financial year and Ksh9.46 billion in 2022/2023.
This significant revenue increase highlights the potential for even higher earnings if issues like meter access and unpaid public bills are addressed more effectively.
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