WHITHER THY RELIGION

People in most parts of Africa (as is the case in most parts of Asia too – bar a couple of countries I think) tend to be very religious. Malawi is no different.  A largely Christian population, people tend to be very devout. Sundays are normally reserved for attending church and various social activities related to the church and the local community.

It was thus with some consternation that the local parish in a neighbourhood of the capital city Lilongwe noticed the dwindling numbers in the church. This was a decade ago. Women seemed to absent themselves more than men. This was something that they wanted to look into. This was definitely not a good sign. Were people getting disenchanted with their religion ? Were people turning away from their own chosen religion to another one, another congregation, another faith ? Or, was something seriously wrong.

The nuns decided to go around the local community and investigate. It did not take long to find out what the root cause was – it was lack of water. And the ‘culprit’ in this case was the local water utility. Water connections had been disconnected. This meant that women had to travel longer to fetch water and this was increasingly getting more difficult. With water not being of good quality, it meant that people were falling ill. A combination of these factors resulted in less people turning up for prayers at the local church. The cause had been identified, now a solution had to be found.

The nuns knew of a local NGO working in the neighbourhood. They decided to approach them who, in turn, approached WaterAid’s office in Lilongwe as the root cause of this problem was lack of good quality water supplies. But first, the reason behind the utility disconnecting the water supplies had to be established. The story that was revealed was quite an interesting one, though not entirely surprising.

The local community who belonged to the poorer sections did get water connections from the local utility. A water rate was also fixed. Households had to pay cash to local contractors who would then collect and remit it to the utility based on consumption. This went on for sometime. The local contractors were appointed by the utility. They were not from the local community or known to them. What they did not realise was that the amount paid by them were not remitted to the utility. The contractors pocketed the money and at one point, just disappeared from the scene.

What the local community then faced was a double whammy – lost cash and lost connections. They tried reasoning with the local utility that it was not their fault, but the local utility would not take any responsibility. For them, the local community was a defaulter and as per their norms, they could no longer avail the services of a water connection.

Unravelling of this story then led to various discussions with the local community and the utility. A way forward had to be identified. Negotiations finally started bearing fruit. The utility agreed to restore the water connections if the outstanding amounts could be paid by the local community. This was difficult for the local community, but not impossible. They asked the utility if the payments on which they had apparently defaulted, could be paid over an extended period of time. A formula was then worked out. The local community would pay the water charges as per current agreed rates for consumers but would also pay a little extra. That additional amount would go towards paying off the earlier dues.

On the face of it, it appeared to be unfair. The poor community had to pay the same amount twice, just because they were cheated by the contractors who actually collected water charges but did not remit. But they were also practical. Paying off the past dues through a slightly enhanced payment system would mean that they could immediately get their water connections restored. These connections were more reliable and the water was of much better quality. In absence of these connections, they had to fetch poor quality water from longer distances resulting in lost productive hours and illness. The water also was more expensive. The unregulated private water vendors used to charge them 5-10 times more for this water. So, in principle, the higher water rate was perfectly fine.

But, something had to be in place before this arrangement would be operational. The local community wanted to appoint their own ‘kiosk managers’. These would be people responsible for operating the water kiosks (a common place where the water utility would provide a communal service and from where people could collect their water and pay the charges). The kiosk managers would be from the local community and hence accountable to them. They would be supervised by a local management group.

The utility also agreed to set up a Kiosk Management Unit. This unit (initially supported by WaterAid), would be the ‘social arm’ of the unit and be responsible for managing the relationship between the local communities and the utility. This was considered very important as it was about trust and confidence building, but it was also about making sure that the utility would look at the poorer sections of society as their clients and be accountable to providing quality service to them.

I visited Lilongwe for the first time in 2006 when I heard about this. During my visit to the local community, they told me about the progress they were making in collecting the charges including the previous ones. The utility’s kiosk management unit was also functional. The consumer now had strong links with the service providers. There was greater confidence and trust. Since then, I have been informed that the past dues have been paid off in full. The kiosk managers are also running their small enterprises around the kiosks and thus making an additional income.

I have not yet checked if the church attendance is back to past levels, or indeed growing. Perhaps they are. Perhaps, with a bit more time and much improved health, people have more time for pursuing their religious interests. Perhaps God too is happy. Didn’t someone say, ‘Cleanliness is more important than godliness’ ?