Pragmatism as an approach for decision-making: Why two Kenyan water utilities opted for pre-paid water dispensers

Abstract

Since the late 1990's a growing number of urban water utility providers in Africa have adopted pre-paid water dispensers as a service delivery option for low-income areas within their service areas. Meanwhile, the use of such pre-paid technology for water delivery especially for the low-income consumer has been subject to debate in the water services sector. While one stream of literature mainly explores the potentials of the technology, a second stream focuses on the limits such technology presents, particularly for the low-income consumer. While acknowledging the contributions of both streams of literature on the debate on pre-paid dispensers in water services, this article explores why managers of water utilities adopt pre-paid dispensers for their operations in the low-income areas and how the technology is implemented in practice. Through a case study of two Kenyan cities (Nakuru and Kisumu), this article argues that in opting for pre-paid dispenser, the water utilities adopt a pragmatic approach, accepting solutions they may consider sub-optimal but which, at a particular moment and within a given context, may be the best they can do.