Abstract:
The study explored good governance strategies for reducing Non-Revenue Water at
the Arusha Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (AUWSA). Specifically, it
explored the effect of stakeholder participation, human resource management, and
accountability strategies on reducing Non-Revenue Water at AUWSA. The study
applied the pragmatism research philosophy, which was implemented through the
mixed-method research approach and a cross-section research design. The study
population comprised 10,292 stakeholders who were water customers and water
officers from AUWSA. The calculated sample size was 384. However, 256
respondents were reached. The data collection was done through questionnaires and
interviews. Data analysis for the questionnaire involved frequencies, percentages and
Spearman correlation coefficient. Data analysis for the interviews involved content
analysis. The findings revealed that stakeholder participation strategies can reduce
NRW through collaboration with NGOs, multi-stakeholder water forums, public private partnerships, community engagement, and public awareness campaigns. The
Spearman rank correlation coefficient findings suggest a moderate positive correlation
between stakeholder participation and reduction of non-revenue water (r=0.519, p=
0.000). The findings revealed that human resource management reduces non-revenue
water through employee training, performance incentives, monitoring of employee
performance, and employee engagement in decision-making. The Spearman rank
correlation coefficient results indicated a moderate positive relationship between HRM
practices and NRW reduction (r= 0.462, p=0.000). The findings revealed that
accountability strategies reduce non-revenue water through whistleblower
mechanisms, enforcement of penalties, internal auditing, and external oversight. The
Spearman correlation coefficient established a weak positive relationship between
accountability strategies and the reduction of non-revenue water (r= 0.358, p=0.000).
The study concludes that stakeholder participation, HRM, and accountability strategies
effectively contribute to reducing non-revenue water at AUWSA. Therefore, AUWSA
should strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration, human resource management and
accountability
