Local authorities, community and Private Operators Partnerships in small towns water service delivery in Ghana

This paper examines the performance of partnerships between local authorities (District Assemblies) and private operators (POs) in the community managed small towns’ water service delivery in Ghana. Since 2002, partnerships in the form of management contracts are increasing especially for towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants but there has been no systematic analysis of the partnerships. Using a case study approach based on five selected community managed piped systems; three under private operator partnerships and two under direct Community Ownership and Management as study controls, the study focused on the partnership development, partnership relationship between stakeholders and the outcome of the service. The study revealed that the partnership emerged as a result of the relatively large communities and/or the complexity of the systems. Water and Sanitation Development Boards (WSDBs) are community representatives with the responsibility of overseeing the management contracts with private operators or directly managing the water systems through hired operating staff. With time the management contracts have improved as some earlier defects have been corrected in subsequent contracts. Yet some contracts suffered post-contract opportunism, weak monitoring and regulation by the District Assembly (DA), political interference in tariffs setting and removal of WSDBs members after change of government. Conflicts between the DAs and the Water and Sanitation Development Boards (WSDBs) were common resulting in direct management by the District Assembly. The success or failure of the partnership is linked to degree of conflict resolution amongst the stakeholders as well as external factors. The study also discusses the outcome of the partnerships in relation to the quality of water service delivered.