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Rural Water Supply Corruption in Ethiopia 159
Community perceptions of borehole design and construction. Villagers
were also asked questions about the borehole construction process to
highlight any corrupt practices around (a) site selection, (b) borehole
drilling and construction, and (c) borehole payment. Several conclusions
can be drawn:
• The site selection process was regarded as fair, with no reports of siting
“bias” that might favor, for example, more influential or wealthier
households. In all cases, respondents stated that siting had been carried
out by “an outside expert” (a technician from the water bureau) and
that drillers simply drilled at the specified location, with no input from
community members.
• Villagers had no involvement in the construction process itself, except in
one instance where villagers contributed labor to help move materials.
22 As one villager put it, “We know nothing about drilling boreholes.
The drillers came, did their work, and then left.” As a result, villagers
had no firm views on the quality of the drilling process specifically and
hence on whether the boreholes had been correctly drilled and
equipped. However, some villagers did have strong views on the design
and construction quality of visible headworks. Perhaps surprisingly,
most criticism came from villages where community participation in
project design and implementation was rated highly by the survey
team (roughly half of the villages), suggesting that where communities
are treated as active development partners, people are more likely to
raise concerns about the quality and design of their water points,
although not about the drilling process. Box 4.7 provides further details
about the community discussions.
• Village interviewees were adamant that no payments in cash, labor, or
materials occurred between drillers and communities except in the one
instance noted above. Interviewees were unanimously clear that the
drilling teams were accountable to external agencies (government or
NGO) rather than to the village or the village water committee and
were therefore paid by others. In most villages, community members
had offered drilling teams food, drink, and in some instances shelter. In
all instances, this hospitality was offered rather than solicited.
Local Management and Payment Systems
Corruption that directly involves communities and households includes
situations where a householder or community leader acts as a bribe