Strengthening mutual accountability and partnerships for WASH Country brief, Kenya

The Kenya WASH sector features diverse stakeholders and platforms, but broad-based coordination forums like the Joint Sector Working Group are largely dormant or dysfunctional. While 'soft' accountability mechanisms such as strategic planning and performance reporting are common, they often lack follow-up and sanctions, leading to weak mutual accountability. The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily enhanced collaboration but exposed severe financial accountability gaps and corruption in public procurement. The Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Mutual Accountability Mechanism (MAM) is being introduced to address these gaps, though its integration is hindered by the lack of active national forums.

• Kenya's WASH sector has a mix of broad-based and group-specific multi-stakeholder platforms; however, while group-specific platforms are active, the broad-based forums are frequently 'ad hoc, dormant, or dysfunctional'.
• The Joint Sector Working Group (JSWG), intended as the primary forum for sector coordination and mutual accountability, has become dormant, with annual joint sector reviews not occurring for approximately five years.
• Accountability in the sector relies heavily on 'soft accountability' mechanisms—such as strategic plans and performance reports—which typically lack the power of sanction and fail to include follow-up to verify if plans were actually implemented.
• The COVID-19 pandemic improved short-term collaboration and dialogue between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, but it also revealed critical weaknesses in financial accountability, specifically regarding the contravention of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act (PPDA).
• The Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Mutual Accountability Mechanism (MAM) is gaining some traction, but its effectiveness is limited because it is not yet properly integrated and lacks broad participation, particularly from development partners and the private sector.
• There is significant institutional fragmentation and overlap in the sector, particularly between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, which creates confusion regarding who is held accountable for sanitation.

APA

Njoroge, G., & Dickin, S. (2021). Strengthening mutual accountability and partnerships for WASH Country brief, Kenya. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/kenya.pdf

Chicago

Njoroge, George, and Sarah Dickin. Strengthening mutual accountability and partnerships for WASH Country brief, Kenya. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/kenya.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Njoroge |first1=George |last2=Dickin |first2=Sarah |title=Strengthening mutual accountability and partnerships for WASH Country brief, Kenya |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=January 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/kenya.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{njoroge2021strengthening, author = {Njoroge, George and Dickin, Sarah}, title = {{Strengthening mutual accountability and partnerships for WASH Country brief, Kenya}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/kenya.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }