Assessing the Institutional Setups and the Impacts of Shared Responsibilities in Poor Water Services: A Case Study of Garowe, Somalia

Abstract

Background: Post-conflict poor water services in the developing counties are caused mainly by the institutional setups and the devastating infrastructures. This study tries to answer the following question: How the institutional setups affect the poor water services in Somalia which couldn’t achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) seven. Methods: Qualitative method was used, by which, in-depth interviews with selected households and key informants’ interview were used for data collection. Twenty households were interviewed from seven zones from Garowe city, the administrative capital of Puntland state of Somalia, and seven key informants were interviewed from the government institutions including ministries, agencies and local municipality. Thematic analyses were used, codes were identified and then organized in themes. Detailed readings and translations of the transcribed interviews were used to categorize the themes. Results: The result showed that the institutions involved in water sector in Puntland were not well organized, the roles and the responsibilities were not clear to the different governmental institutions, the institutions were criticizing each other for deliberately taking responsibility of one and other. This led to a fragmented water sector responsibility which in turn led to a poor domestic water quality and overpriced. While other consumers couldn’t afford a drinking water resources at their homes, which forced them to walk long distances and queue for long time to fetch water. Analyzing the current situation showed, that it will be difficult for the country to achieve, the Sustainable development Goal six (target one) under the current institutional setups. Conclusions: People living in Garowe city don’t have safe and affordable water due to inadequate institutional setups. To achieve the SDG goal six (target one), new institutional reforms are recommended in the water sector by which everyone in Puntland can afford a safe drinking in 2030.