Kenya’s c (WSTF) is an institution under the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, which manages water and sanitation sector investments. To contribute towards a more enabling environment in the Kenyan water sector, cewas supported the WSTF to develop a Governance Assessment Tool that supports investment decision-making, and provides a systematic assessment on the basis of which service providers can make improvements. It covers three broad areas:
- Dynamics and relationships of institutions and stakeholders: This component considers the relationship of the water and sanitation service provider with WSTF and other investors, with the regulator WASREB, with the county government, and with its own board of directors.
- Governance principles: Transparency, accountability, participation and application of anti-corruption controls to ensure integrity.
- Performance assessment: Includes components of effectiveness, efficiency, organisation, strategy, commercial management, financial management, and technical operations.
To develop and pilot the tool, cewas worked with WSTF and five Kenyan utilities for two days each, guiding them and working through the approximately 70 indicators of the tool of the measurement tool. Overall results ranged from 16-74%, with larger utilities generally obtaining higher scores.
