Country Profile Regulation Country Dashboards Tariffs The Republic of Kenya is a country located in East Africa. It is defined within an area of 580,367 km2 (224,081 square miles). The country has been divided, since 2010, into counties. The country’s constitution established 47 counties that operate as local government units. Country Overview Year Population 2021 54,985,702 Country Area (km2) 2022 580,367 GDP (Million USD) 2021 110,350 GDP per capita (USD) 2021 2,006.8 World Bank Income Group 2022 Lower middle Income World Bank Region 2022 Sub-Saharan Africa Source: World Bank Data Kenya Water and Wastewater Sector Structure The main attributions of the water and sanitation sector in Kenya have been defined in the National Constitution approved in 2010 and operationalized in the 2016 Water act. The service is provided at the county level and the number of utilities operating varies depending on the size and density of the county. In the Water act, service provision must be performed by utilities licensed under the Regulatory Board. The license is a statutory requirement that gives the service providers the power to do so in the counties they want to operate. The nature and ownership of the utilities may vary from Public Limited Liability Companies to private bodies providing services, all depending on the approval of the regulatory board. The services provided by the utilities include water supply (Collection, Treatment, and Distribution) and sewerage services Authority Level Role Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation National Responsible for ensuring water resource availability and accessibility Ministry of Health National Among other responsibilities, in charge of sanitation policy as well as overall sanitary services Water Resources Authority (WRA) National A state corporation for safeguarding the right to clean water through proper regulation of the water management Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) National Independent water and sanitation regulator with responsibility for setting rules and enforcing standards as well as ensuring the financial sustainability of water service providers Water Works Development Agencies (WWDA) Regional Introduced in 2016, nine WWDA across Kenya have replaced Water service boards and became responsible for developing cross-county water infrastructure County governments Regional Responsibility for the provision of water and sanitation services through water service providers in their areas Water service providers (WSP) Local Regulated utilities that provide water and wastewater services in urban areas, owned by counties Number of WSS Service Providers 91 Ownership Public and Private Service Type Water and Wastewater Geographic Scope County Level The Water Services Regulatory Board was established under the Water Act 2016. As a regulatory body, it has been mandated to set rules and enforce standards in the water sector, ensuring that customers are protected and have access to efficient, adequate, affordable and sustainable services. WASREB’s role is to: License only water service providers that can meet regulatory requirements Promote and approve the consolidation of urban water service providers to increase the effective and efficient provision of water services Create awareness about the need for consolidation of urban water service providers Provide guidance in the process of consolidation of urban water service providers Define the roles and responsibilities of all parties involved Currently, there are 91 regulated water service providers that are supervised and monitored by WASREB, which also collects their performance indicators and provides annual benchmarking reports. The organizational structure also includes: Water Sector Trust Fund – Established under the same water Act (2016) with the mandate to provide conditional and unconditional grants to the Counties and to assist in financing the development of and management of water and sanitation services in marginalized and underserved areas. Mission To provide a regulatory environment that facilitates efficiency effectiveness and equity in the provision of water services in line with the human right to water and sanitation. Water and Wastewater Regulations Legislation and Policies Year Description The Water Act 2016 Provides the norms and baselines for the regulation, management, and development of water resources, water and sewerage service provision, and other connected issues. WASREB Regulatory Guidelines Multi Regulatory tools issued by the central regulatory authority on technical areas for the operationalization of water and sanitation service provision to both governments and utilities. A full list is available at the WASREB's website Areas of Regulation Areas Water Services Regulatory Board Tariff Calculation Y Tariff Approval Y Licensing Water and/or Wastewater Service Providers Y Business plans approvals N Performance indicators monitoring Y Economic Data Collection Y Technical Data Collection Y Utilities in IBNET Utility Date Tariff Kericho Water and Sanitation Company Limited 2018 Tariff Limuru Water And Sewerage Co. Ltd 2023 Tariff Nakuru Water and Sanitation Services Company 2020 Tariff A more complete list of Tariffs can be found at IBNET Tariff Database - Kenya