A worsening water shortage is disrupting daily life across Kigali, leaving households and businesses struggling to secure one of the city’s most basic necessities.
Residents in several parts of the capital have gone for prolonged periods with little or no running water. Those who can afford it are turning to private distributors and tanker trucks, while poorer households are increasingly forced to ration the little water they can buy.
A 20-litre jerrycan is selling for around Rwf1,000 or more in some neighbourhoods, according to residents who spoke to Taarifa. At that price, a family buying five jerrycans a day would spend about Rwf150,000 a month on just 100 litres of water daily.
For those able to buy in bulk, a 10-cubic-metre tanker can cost about Rwf250,000, depending on the supplier and location. Such prices have effectively created two realities: households that can pay for private deliveries and those that simply go without.
The shortage is also affecting Kigali’s hospitality businesses. Some restaurants and other establishments are restricting or closing washrooms because they do not have enough water, leaving customers searching elsewhere for basic sanitation facilities.
WASAC announced on July 3 that it had introduced temporary water rationing in parts of Kicukiro, Gasabo and Nyarugenge, as well as Bugesera, Kamonyi and Rwamagana, citing reduced water availability during the dry season.
However, questions remain about the severity and duration of the current shortage. Residents have not been given a clear timetable for normal supply to resume or information on emergency measures for households unable to afford privately supplied water.
The shortage comes as authorities work to expand Kigali’s water infrastructure. WASAC says the Karenge Water Treatment Plant is being upgraded from 12,000 to 48,000 cubic metres per day, with additional supply expected to benefit areas including Ndera, Gasogi and Kanombe.
For residents without water today, however, future infrastructure provides little immediate relief.
At Rwf1,000 for 20 litres, privately purchased water costs the equivalent of Rwf50,000 per cubic metre. Basic activities such as cooking, bathing, washing clothes and using toilets are consequently becoming expenses that some households must ration.
For a rapidly growing capital, the crisis raises a broader question about whether water infrastructure is keeping pace with population, housing and commercial expansion.
Residents now want immediate answers: when will reliable supply return, what is being done for households that cannot afford private water, and how will authorities prevent access to a basic necessity from increasingly depending on the ability to pay?
