Uganda: A rooster for payment of water fees

Communities in Uganda are responsible for making cash payments towards the construction of water supply facilities (e.g. boreholes), their operations and maintenance. Water supply facilities are often managed by a Water Source and Sanitation Committee (WSSC), which is a decision-making body that oversees the proper functioning of facilities. Such is the case at the Ciforo Sub County in Adjumani District, where a ‘loa’ (or borehole) may be found.

Majority of water users in the Loa village find it hard to pay the monthly user’s fee of one thousand Ugandan shillings (US$ 0.45 cents) to sustain the operations and maintenance (O&M) of their water source. Challenges to settling fees are most often attributed to low incomes of the community members, poverty and the community’s ageing population where due to old age, some members are no longer able to work for a living.

In order to overcome the problems of sustained water services, a meeting with water users was organised by the Hand Pump Mechanics and members of the WSSC in June 2010. In this meeting, Mr Mamgbwi Zakeo, a hand pump mechanic, offered alternatives to the current system of cash payments for operations and maintenance.

Mr Zakeo proposed a system of ‘payment in kind’ (with goods ascribed a value) and their subsequent sale -- the proceedings of which are then used to settle user fees. Within this system, a policy on how to treat the remaining balance of valuated goods was also created. It was agreed that should a balance be incurred, the owner (or payer) is given the prerogative to either use the balance to pay in advance its equivalent amount in monthly user fees, or based on an individual’s need, s/he receives back the balance.

Innovation

A common example of this scheme is in the payment of a rooster in place of cash. ‘Rooster’ payments are commonly offered by many households. Each rooster is valued at 10,000 Ugandan shillings (US$5.00) and sold by the committee. The money received is used to pay monthly water users fees for the rooster’s owner. This arrangement takes place two to three months in advance, depending on previously agreed terms and capacity of the owner.

Items in kind are not limited to a rooster. Others have contributed sim-sim seeds, beans, maize and other produce, which are measured in kilograms and are valued based on the current market price. Others provide labour as an alternative method of payment.

The community’s response to the challenges of collecting user fees has been successful in supporting community members in need. In addition, the availability of diverse methods of payment had also supported the committee in raising enough funds for O&M and putting an end to user fee defaulters in the village.

Story by Orishaba Grace, Programme Assistant, NETWAS -UGANDA

“A rooster for payment of water user fees at Loa borehole in Adjumani District in Uganda” is another story in the Source field story contest 2010.

Tags: africa, financing, participatory management