Promoting Public Participation In Water Services
Regulation, by and large, is about consumer protection in respect to service delivery. Wasreb acknowledges the need to involve consumers as participants in decisions that affect the way they receive water services. The empowerment of consumers is in line Kenya’s constitution which recognizes access to water services as a human right. Water Act 2016 under Section 72 requires Wasreb to establish a mechanism for handing complaints from consumers regarding the quality or nature of water services and develop guidelines on the establishment of consumer groups and facilitate their establishment.
The Consumer Engagement Guideline was developed to facilitate the engagement process between consumers and sector institutions. It defines the roles and responsibilities of various players in consumer engagement and complaints handling.
Water Action Groups (WAGs) form the backbone of Wasreb’s approach to consumer engagement. WAGs, comprise citizens working as volunteers to bridge the gap between sector institutions and consumers, and by so doing improve the responsiveness to consumer concerns. They do this by pursuing a three-pronged agenda namely information sharing, participation/engagement, and provision of feedback (complaints handling).
MajiVoice is a service that enables Kenyans to easily and conveniently reach their Water Company (through a mobile phone or the Internet).
