The ninth Annual General Meeting of the Eastern and Southern Africa Water and Sanitation (ESAWAS) Regulators Association was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 6th-8th October, 2015. The meeting was hosted by the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) at the Fairview Hotel under the theme ‘Enhancing Regulatory Substance’.
The three-day meeting which drew over 50 participants was attended by the six members of ESAWAS, as well as, representatives from the new water and electricity regulator for Burundi, the Regulation Unit under the Ministry of Water & Environment of Uganda, the Ministry of Electricity, Dams, Irrigation and Water Resources from South Sudan, the Department of Water Affairs of Botswana, African Development Bank, International Water Association (IWA) and the Dar es Salaam Water and Sanitation Corporation (DAWASCO). Local representation was also from Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, GIZ and other local stakeholders.
The opening was officiated by the Hon. Minister of Water, Mr Eugene Wamalwa.
The theme of the meeting ‘Enhancing Regulatory Substance’, also referred to as the “what” of regulation, is concerned with the intellectual and technical context of regulators’ decisions. The theoretical reasoning and methodologies adopted for making decisions in the various areas of regulation should be well grounded in order that their quality and robustness leads to the intended outcomes and that they can stand up to independent scrutiny and/or challenge.
The programme conducted over three-days was as follows:
Day one and two of the programme was conferencing focussed on the theme and included presentations on:
- Tariff determination;
- Technical Indicators for reliability and quality of supply;
- Complaint Handling and Resolution;
- Licensing;
- First benchmarking report on utility performance across regional countries;
- AfDB support for regulation and WSS;
- NWASCO and WASREB Peer Review Findings; and
- Enhancing regional partnerships.
Day three was dedicated to the Annual General Meeting to discuss business of the ESAWAS Regulators Association.
