Rethinking Informality in Service Delivery: The Case of Water Supply in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This paper presents the essence of informality in municipal services delivery, using the case of water supply in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Over the past three decades most cities of the world experienced an unprecedented under-performance of municipal services, a situation that prompted global institutional reforms for the purpose of rescuing the situation. The reforms led to inter alia increased participation of private and community-based actors, along with the conventional public actors. Although private actors were legally included in the institutional frameworks for service provision, many still operated outside the formal system of service provision, especially in developing countries. Many studies have indicated the undeniable role of private service providers in covering the gap of services delivery left by the public system, albeit they also indicated that most of these providers operated informally. Despite much documentation on informality of services delivery, the main factor discussed has been the failure of the public system to provide the services, with a limited focus on institutional factors. This gap may lead to less informed attempts in addressing informality, particularly in municipal services delivery. The objective of this paper therefore is to discuss how institutional factors contribute to the informality in this important and cross-cutting sector. The paper applies qualitative case study approach, and uses the case of water supply in a selected private scheme to explain the research phenomenon. The instruments of data collection included key informant interviews, focus group discussions, household interviews and document analysis. Adding to the existing body of knowledge, this paper points out that informality in municipal services delivery is also related to accountability voids, legitimacy and legality dilemma, and bureaucracies as an exclusion factor. In addressing the identified issues, the paper recommends improved enforcement of rules, and establishing one stop service for registration of aspiring service providers.