Law in Practice in a Nairobi Slum: Legalization and Camouflage

Abstract

State and non-state water service providers in Nairobi strive to produce legitimate claims to water. This article examines the state's attempt to regulate water provision in Kibera, a slum of Nairobi, Kenya, where the state-owned water service provider has installed a water system, the so-called ‘chambers’, to combat the unauthorized diversion of water from the grid and extend the reach of their services. While the chamber system has failed the intended regulation of water provision in Kibera, it plays a central role in structuring the water provision system in the settlement. The article shows that the interactions the chambers facilitate between state and non-state service providers produce a localized legality which draws on the language of the state and the appearance of the rule of law. At the same time, this localized legality is operationalized by illegal activities and the direct transgression of statutory law. Therefore, the legitimacy and legality of service providers is co-produced by state and non-state actors and between the ideal of law and practical norms constituting a ‘practical water law’.