Non-Revenue Water up by 9 percent, says CAG

Dar es Salaam. The Controller and Auditor General (CAG) report has revealed an increase in value of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) to Sh175 billion in the 2020/21 Financial Year from the previous Sh157.59 billion.

The nine percent increase continues to pose a huge challenge despite the government’s efforts to support water authorities to strengthen their infrastructures and meet standards set by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura).

Audited Public Parastatals report 2020/21 tabled by CAG Charles Kichere in Parliament on Tuesday attributes increasing challenge to leakages due to outdated infrastructure and illegal connections.

Report says NRM is calculated by subtracting the amount of produced water from sales made to customers and that the overall levels attained by 21 authorities were unsatisfactory due to challenges they are facing with their infrastructures and illegal connections.

“There has been an uneven trend in overall NRW for 22 out of 24 water authorities in the last consecutive years. If not well managed, water loss will make authorities to keep incurring avoidable losses,” said Mr Kichere.

He recommended the government to intervene and review water management infrastructure in water authorities and develop mitigating plans for the better management and reduction of NRW.

The CAG says the audit found that the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (Dawasa) has constantly been charging Sh3.7 billion to 1,207 customers annually instead of the actual meter readings.

“That means either customers were being overcharged or undercharged. Therefore, I recommend the authorities to address the challenge by instituting measures and controls in meter reading and billing procedures to ensure customers pay for realistic bills,” he said.

Tanesco

The Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) lost Sh105.49 billion in a year of review due to application of unapproved tariff reduction on power sales and service line connections, according to his report.

Also, the 5,000-meter seals from Tanesco were arbitrarily sold in streets showing there were loss of revenue due to theft and undetected meter seals.

Delayed projects

The CAG’s report shows that 32 out of 34 projects (equivalent to 94 percent) were completed late at an average of 0.8 months to 3.9 years with the exception of two projects implemented by the ministry of Energy and the ministry of Health.

“Delays indicate growing costs risks associated with the charges from commitment fees. There was low fund utilisation compared to implementation period that has lapsed for most development projects,” the new report says.

Mr Kichere says in a report that the government risks to incur additional costs associated with commitment fees for undisbursed amount of loans as well as weaknesses in the management of terms of loan agreements.

He called for increased government interventions to do away with avoidable cost burdens due to ineffective management of construction development projects, inadequate project planning and ineffective monitoring, and coordination between the ministry and projects implementing agencies.

Addition report by Naomi William