The influential political scientist and communications expert Harold Lasswell defined in the 1930s politics to be revolving around the question: who gets what, where, when and why? Essentially that question is a question of power. The power over resources and their allocation as well as over ideas.  

Working in the East African context the questions Lasswell contemplated are extremely relevant today. Reflecting back on my year living in Kenya the region has moved from one extreme to another. Last autumn it experienced severe drought (see: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/637224/-/ulmj6i/-/index.html) and this spring the region has experienced extreme flooding (see: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/03/05/kenya-massive-flooding-in-samburu-as-ewaso-nyiro-river-bursts-its-banks/). Not that it is unusual with large fluctuations in this part of the African continent. Still, the feeling among people are that the extremes and effects of them have increased. In the autumn the herders were wandering inside Nairobi to find places for their cattle to eat and right now many people see their houses and livelihoods destroyed by floods. Ironically, with the dams overflowing there is still water rationing in some parts of the region.

While some effects are felt throughout the societies those hit hardest are the poor and disadvantaged. Along the lines of Lasswell’s thinking the UNDP:s Human Development Report from 2006 (Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis) identified power and inequality to be at the centre of the water issue. Striking and new to many in 2006 (who previously mostly discussed the water crisis in terms of scarcity (too little water) or abundance (too much water)) the conclusion that it is power and inequality that affects people’s water situation more than natural factors is more true than ever in the East African context.

Still in 2010 it is clear that power determines who gets what water, where, when and why. People with little or any access to power will be at liberty of those making the decisions be it in terms of water allocation or flood protection measures. The need to look for explanations (and solutions) to the water crisis beyond water mere scarcity is as strong as ever. This will inevitably need to involve increased participation by those disadvantaged.

by Dr Anders Jägerskog, Associate Professor, First Secretary
Senior Programme Manager, Water Resources
Regional Team for Economic and Environmental Development (REED), Sida
Embassy of Sweden, Nairobi, Kenya