Muddy waters

When researching more about community-based water projects I found some incredible initiatives, of which I have added the links below. The innovation and forward-thinking behind these projects are extremely valuable to combating water scarcity and providing water for the local population. However, recent evidence has shown that the efficacy of such projects has been hindered by corruption, the abuse of public power for private gain. These findings have emerged from this week’s commemoration of ‘International anti-corruption day’. As one of the UN’s many yearly celebrations, I won’t hold it against you if this wasn’t starred in your personalised calendars. So to catch you up, I have added a short news clip of its recognition in Kenya.

Unfortunately, corruption and Africa often come as a clichéd pair; a continent rife with fraudulent politicians who swindle the West’s well-intended donations. A day dedicated to corruption hopes to dispel such stereotypes by educating people on its causes and specificities, allowing us to come one step closer to combating such malpractices. 

Corruption in the water sector 

Transparency International claims that around 10-30% of spending on water is lost to corruption. The Kenyan dam scandal exemplifies such statistics with 28 Kenyan officials being arrested on account for the looting of the $164 million budgeted for the construction of two dams in 2019. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case since the water sector is argued to be a fertile breeding ground for corruption. According to Breen and Gillanders, water provision is a typical monopoly, ‘presided over by multiple and sometimes overlapping water agencies’ and, therefore, attracts corrupt malpractices from local bribery to high-level fraud. 

One single day, and not to mention one short blog post, will evidently not be sufficient in tackling such a widespread and multi-faceted issue. I will, therefore, focus on the less explored form of ‘petty corruption,’ defined as the ‘everyday abuse of power by low-level and midlevel public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens.’ This form of corruption is difficult to prove since it rarely leaves a paper trail and often affects the poorest citizens, who don’t generally report it out of fear or lack of information on their rights and available services. Nevertheless, a data set on self-reported bribery has shown that in Egypt, around half of respondents who had had contact with a water, sanitation, or electricity service provider in 2020 had paid a bribe at least once. Over in Kenya, the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company loses 40% of its supply to theft and leaks, resulting in alternative vendors selling water at 10 to 25 times the usual price. This not only has a massive impact on household's access to water but has even been proven to fuel other crimes such as human trafficking, smuggling, and theft. 

Women pay the price

When adopting a gendered lens, the burden of such practices often falls on women, who are overrepresented among the world’s poor and generally carry the main responsibility for many activities that require access to water. A recent report that looked closely at water collection in Kibera, Kenya, unveiled malicious acts of sextortion and concluded that vendors built off regressive attitudes towards women when coercing them into sex for water. The social taboo, along with the lack of reporting mechanisms and support for victims, has allowed such practices to be left unnoticed and untreated.

There is limited research on such forms of corruption, yet they are deeply embedded in water management systems. This highlights the need for WASH professionals to explore the concept of petty corruption more diligently without succumbing to the prevalent corruption stereotypes. Only through a strong understanding of such multi-faceted forms of corruption can we prevent the atrocious physical and psychological consequences it has on the local population.

Examples of community based initiatives:

1. Kenyan use of water harvesting: 

https://www.devex.com/news/kenyan-farmers-use-water-harvesting-to-counter-climate-change-effects-102140

2. Somalian localshelp combat water scarcity:

https://www.ft.com/content/78d1b4ac-263a-4b3a-a3d3-1bfa38a06fa8

3.  Shared resources in Sudan's North Darfur:

https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/nurturing-livelihoods-and-peace-through-shared-resources-sudan-s-north-darfur