Most parts of Nairobi have been facing an acute water shortage since Friday last week leading to suffering among thousands of households who are now forced to buy the commodity at exorbitant prices from water vendors with the authority concerned remaining mute.
The most affected areas include; Pangani, Allsopps, Mathare North, Parts of Kasarani from Thika Road Mall (TRM), most parts of Ngara, and Kayole, among others. Nairobi City County has not officially stated what has necessitated the shortage.
Some estates have reported having had a water shortage for more than a month despite them sorting water bills religiously, blaming the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company for engineering the shortage so that water cartels can make a killing.
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As a result of the shortage, water vendors have tripled the commodity’s price with a 20-litre jerrican going for between 50 and 100 shillings from 5 shillings. The same water being sold at exorbitant prices is fetched from unclean sources putting the city residents at risk.
Today, 60 percent of Nairobi’s residents do not have access to a reliable source of clean water. Prolonged periods of drought between its rainy seasons have also forced the government-run Nairobi Water Company to put in place a system of rationing since 2017.
Nairobi residents get three days of water at most per week, collecting it in jerry cans and other containers to last them until their next supply. However, cartels within the water sector have taken advantage of this to engineer water shortages so that they can distribute water to homesteads.
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To cut the city some slug, the temperatures in Nairobi have been extremely unbearable both during the day and at night. On Friday last week, the highest temperatures during the day were 31 degrees, and at night at 24 degrees.
Some places within the city recorded 34 degrees on Sunday, and on Monday 29 degrees. The average temperatures during the night have been oscillating between 20 and 25 degrees.