The corporation has been bogged down with challenges that has seen its former bosses fired.
The national water agency Water and Sanitation Corporation ( Wasac) is unable to increase access to water due to inefficiency in its operations.
As a result, more Rwandans will continue to face limited access to water while others incur higher costs to access it.
While the government has set a target for universal access to water by 2024 and increased investment to facilitate access, there are fears that the target could be missed if WASAC continues to register losses.
Figures released during the recent Public Accounts Committee hearing in parliament show that WASAC experienced a total loss of 50 percent of its annual revenue wf37.6 billion last years while 41 percent of its water supply is wasted.
Immaculee Mutete, a resident of one of the suburbs in Nyarugunga sector, Kigali, says water shortage is as old as she can remember. For residents who cannot afford water tanks to store rainwater, usually have to pay Rwf500 per jerrycan to fetch and transport water from public water taps. “We are used to it.
Our water taps can remain dry for a week. Water comes during the night, most of the time when we are asleep. During the dry season, it gets worse. There are long queues at the public taps. It has been like this for years,” Ms Mutete recounts.
Despite the government spending Rwf50 billion out of the national budget on water and sanitation this year, some districts remain water-strapped.
For instance, areas of Kanombe, Remera and Gikondo in Kigali were reported to access water one to three days per week between December last year and March.
During a Public Account Committee public hearing, parliamentarians raised concerns that WASAC’s mismanagement will delay the 2024 target.
The same concern was raised by the Auditor General’s report that the Sustainable Development Goal number 6 about access to water and sanitation “will not be achieved” if the current trend continues.
WASAC’s acting chief executive Giselle Umuhumuza told PAC that the corporation is working to address financial management challenges.
WASAC blames the failure to satisfy the clients on old infrastructure. He said the challenges have led to dismissal of WASAC's former bosses.
Since its establishment in 2014, over Rwf5 billion have been invested in different water treatments plants, among them Nzove 2, Kanyonyomba, Cyondo and Mirama.