EXPLORING GOOD GOVERNANCE STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING NON-REVENUE WATER AMONG WATER UTILITIES IN TANZANIA

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