The management of WASAC has warned customers that are engaged in illegal water connections and meter by-pass to stop that habit hereafter because they interfere with the supply system and increase the non-revenue water, creating losses and stifle water services delivery.
Through different inspections carried out by WASAC, malpractices like illegal water connection, water theft and misplacement of meters among customers were found across the country, mostly in the City of Kigali. Since July 2022 up to August 2023, WASAC found 56 households stealing water and were fined with 118,140,315 Rwfs.
James Mwijukye, the Director of Commercial Services water disclosed that water theft is a criminal offense that is punishable: “We have realized water theft on many occasions. The fines that are imposed to water theft or illegal connection for domestic and households are one million Franc Rwandais while for commercial and public/private bodies, the fines are Three Million Franc Rwandais”.
Apart from ordinary citizens, some employees of WASAC are also involved in the chain of such wrong acts. 17 staff were involved in the water theft since July 2022 to August 2023, and were administratively punished.
The Fifth Rwanda Population and Housing Census of 2022 revealed that the access to clean water stands at 82.3% in Rwanda. The National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) aims, in its priority area of Moving towards a Modern Rwandan Household, to increase access to clean water to 100% by 2024, and increase access to sanitation to 100%. The fraudulent acts result to the loss of money that would be spent on distribution of water to different parts of the country which face water scarcity.
