Water wars: Nakuru residents protest hiked bills as utilities stand their ground

A section of residents in Nakuru County have moved to court over the issue surrounding the new water tariffs.

In documents seen by Mtaa Wangu, residents’ associations of Biashara, Kivumbini, Flamingo, Menengai Ward, and Nakuru East Ward presented a petition at the Nakuru Law Courts in the matter of the conduct of the Nakuru Water and Sanitation Services Company (NAWASSCO) in relation to water tariff adjustments, public participation, financial transparency, and consumer protection.

The respondents in the case are NAWASSCO, Nakuru Rural Water, Sewerage and Sanitation Company (NARUWASCO), Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB), County Government of Nakuru, and the Attorney General.

The residents’ associations say that the respondents made a unilateral introduction and enforcement of revised water tariffs without prior, adequate, and meaningful public participation.

“The process was selective and deliberately designed to exclude the majority of affected consumers within Nakuru Town East, undermining the foundational values of democratic governance,” read part of the petition.

Additionally, they say that the respondents have failed to disclose financial statements, revenue reports, expenditure breakdowns, and tariff computation models for the past three financial years.

“The continued enforcement of the tariffs without transparency and public accountability threatens not only individual households but also public interest, as revenue mismanagement and lack of independent oversight may result in misuse of public funds collected from residents,” read part of the documents.

Justice Hedwig Ong’undi, who presided over the matter, ordered the petitioners to serve the application to all the respondents by October 24, 2025, and the respondents should file their applications by November 3, 2025.

“The matter will be mentioned on November 6, 2025, to confirm compliance and further directions,” she says.

The issue regarding the new water tariffs has been the talk of the town for the better part of four months.

A section of residents from the Nakuru County Tenants Association raised the issue and threatened to hold peaceful demonstrations over it.

The Water Services Workers Union in Nakuru however, has backed the new water tariffs by NAWASSCO.

The chairman of the union, Francis Makokha, says that the increase is aimed towards improving service delivery.

“Before implementation of these new water tariffs, we carried out sufficient public participation. After the public participation, the new tariffs were approved by WASREB and they were implemented,” he says.

He insists that they have followed all the due processes but alleges there is a section of politicians who are politicizing the whole issue, and he says that they are only facing resistance from those living in the estates managed by the county.

“Three years ago we used to pay Kenya Power sh. 18–sh. 20 million as the electricity bill, because most of the water we supplied in the county comes from underground, and this bill has hiked from sh. 18 million to around sh. 40 million. Therefore, to be able to come up with the deficit to pay this bill, we had to increase the tariffs. When it comes to sewerage treatment, the chemicals we use have also increased and therefore we had to increase the tariffs,” he says.

He further reveals they have not reviewed the tariffs since 2009, but if you look at that time and now, the cost of living has drastically increased and they have never done a review.

“We want to urge the Nakuru residents to continue supporting us, and we want to urge those politicizing this issue to stop. This is because water is a basic commodity that is used by all,” he says.