Open Journal of Political Science, 2018, 8, 12-34 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojps ISSN Online: 2164-0513 ISSN Print: 2164-0505 DOI: 10.4236/ojps.2018.81002 Dec. 25, 2017 12 Open Journal of Political Science Nature and Scope of Public Private Partnerships in the Water Sector in Kenya Joseph Okeyo Obosi Department of Political Science & Public Administration, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya Abstract Public-Private Partnership refers to an approach which combines positive as- pects of Public and private sectors to come up with better public service deli- very model. The PPP arrangements neither appear uniformly nor apply in all circumstances. The study investigated whether or not, through water sector reforms PPP has been realized in the provision of water services in Kenya. Using Public choice theory the study used secondary data and primary data from seven (7) Focus Group Discussions, and 33 Key informant interviews. From seven (7) WSPs, the study found out that PPPs exist in regulation, pro- vision and financing of water services and that in Kenya, PPPs have been in- corporated more by the community water projects than the Public water companies. Keywords Privatization, Water Policy, Reforms, Public Private Partnership, Management 1. Introduction The provision of affordable water in the right quantity at the right time has been elusive to the government of Kenya since independence. Several strategies rang- ing from state provision through both Water and Local Government ministries until 2002 did not help much. IT was observed that increased access to clean water was inimical to the attainment of Millennium development Goals (MDG). The critical role played by access to water either as a development agenda or as a public health concern, therefore invited concerted efforts from both the gov- ernment and the private sectors initially, independently but after 2002, in part- nerships in an effort to improve its service delivery to households. The main drive for the PPP in Kenya was both mitigation against budgetary constraints and implementation of water sector reforms as New Public Management Initia- How to cite this paper: Obosi, J. O. (2018). Nature and Scope of Public Private Part- nerships in the Water Sector in Kenya. Open Journal of Political Science, 8, 12-34. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojps.2018.81002 Received: October 25, 2017 Accepted: December 22, 2017 Published: December 25, 2017 Copyright © 2018 by author and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access