A/HRC/30/39/Add.2
indicators on financing. Collecting data and monitoring is essential for planning and
budgeting, in particular to adopt affirmative action measures to support minorities and
marginalized groups, as prescribed by the Constitution. The Special Rapporteur encourages
the Government to continue its efforts and to further disaggregate data according to
population groups, such as by sex, age, vulnerability and income level, in order to highlight
patterns of exclusion and discrimination. The Government should also carry out a similar
exercise on access to water at the county level.
C.
Affordability of water and sanitation
32.
To realize the human rights to water and sanitation, the price of water and sanitation
and the direct and indirect costs and charges associated with it must be affordable and must
not compromise or threaten a person’s capacity to satisfy other fundamental human needs,
such as for food or medicine. There are several different international recommendations
regarding what percentage of household income should be spent on water and sanitation,
but from a human rights perspective, additional measures must be put in place in order to
ensure that no person who cannot afford to devote even such percentage to water and
sanitation for various reasons is deprived of adequate sanitation and sufficient quantities of
safe and accessible water.
33.
In Kenya, only 20 per cent of the population have access to piped water on premises
(44 per cent in urban areas and 13 per cent in rural areas). The rest rely on neighbours’ taps,
wells, water kiosks, rivers and other surface-water sources. The reported average water
tariff of piped water in 2010/11 was 31 Kenyan shillings ($0.34) per cubic metre, and the
price is much higher at unregulated water points. Even the tariff of piped water is likely to
be hard to pay for those living on the lowest daily minimum wage (K Sh 264.50), and the
higher price of unregulated water is unaffordable to those who are living in poverty.
34.
The tariff guidelines developed by the Water Services Regulatory Board in 2007
provide clear guidance on how to set the water tariff. In the guidelines the Board
encourages a pro-poor policy, for instance through the introduction of a “social block tariff”
according to which a lower percentage of the average tariff is charged for the consumption
of up to 6 cubic metres. It is also strongly recommended that water service providers adopt
a “rising block tariff” for metred customers, and that they include sewerage costs according
to the level of water consumption. In the guidelines, the Board also recommends that the
water price per cubic metre at water kiosks should not be higher than the social block of the
tariff.
35.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes the positive measures included in the guidelines
to ensure affordability for the poor. The rising block tariff encourages water savings and
affordability for low-income households. However, the Special Rapporteur often observes
problems with such types of tariff during her country missions: the poor are often charged a
higher tariff because of their large families and shared water metres. The other issue with
the guidelines is that some small-scale water providers, such as mobile vendors, are not
covered by them and hence freely charge higher tariffs, although the Water Services
Regulatory Board issues licences for small-scale providers that supply more than
20 households or more than 25 cubic metres per day. These very small-scale water
providers are in fact the major water providers to the poor in very remote areas or in
informal settlements.
36.
During the visit, in her interactions with individuals living in informal settlements or
otherwise purchasing water from water kiosks or informal vendors, the Special Rapporteur
encountered many situations where the poor pay significantly more to buy minimum
quantities of water than those who are connected to the water networks. While the tariff
guidelines prohibit water kiosks from charging significantly higher than the social tariff
9