Baseline ICT & governance
Devices, records, revenue and governance, scored before anything is bought.
Trustline Water (Jenga Maji) · WASH practice
Water services that account for themselves.
We help counties, utilities, WUAs and community schemes get the basics right: a baseline you can trust, equipment that works, governance that holds, and billing that reconciles itself.
- Evidence before equipment
- Governance before automation
- Handover, not dependency
M-Pesa received
KES 1,240
Meter 0142 · ref QK4T9
Usage check
Meter 0144
42% above its three-month average
Who we are
A new firm with a field record. Trustline Water (Jenga Maji) was formed by WASH professionals. Our team's delivery record was built as an implementing partner to Rural Water Management Solutions Kenya on the STAWI programme, and as contracted WASH professionals across Western Kenya. We state the role every time we show the work.
Read the record
17
counties on the team's delivery record
9
STAWI counties, as implementing partner
8
Western Kenya counties, as contracted professionals
5
service lines, from assessment to communication
The 17 counties are 9 STAWI counties plus 8 Western Kenya counties. Programme roles and county lists are set out on the portfolio page.
What we do
Five service lines, one sequence.
We do not sell these as unrelated products. They are the sequence a scheme needs to become something it can run, account for and hand over.
IT equipment & donations
Specified, sourced or received, tagged, installed and given an owner.
Governance capacity
Roles, mandate, tariff, customer charter and CBO-to-WUA transition.
M-Pesa & bank billing
Meter reads to bills, integrated payments, reconciliation and reporting.
Communication systems
SMS and WhatsApp notices, fault reporting and monthly service reports.
01 · Baseline
Before the equipment, the evidence.
Most scheme failures are not hardware failures. They are decisions made without a baseline: equipment bought before the revenue chain is understood, software installed before anyone owns the process, training delivered before roles are clear.
We start with a structured assessment across five domains. It takes days, not months, and it produces a scored picture that a scheme, a county and a funder can all read.
- What exists, what works, what is missing
- Where revenue leaks, and why
- Who decides, who signs, who is accountable
- A costed sequence, not a wish list
Baseline scan
Five domains
01 · ICT & devices
What is actually in the office.
Computers, printers, phones, meters, power and backups, and the people who know how to use them. We record condition and ownership, not just a count.
- Asset register and condition
- Power, connectivity and backups
- Skills and support arrangements
Illustrative domains. A real baseline is scored per scheme.
02 · Follow the shilling
Money moves. Accountability has to move with it.
Rural water money passes through many hands before it becomes a working tap. Each hand-off is a place where intent can leak. We work on the joins.
Stage 01 · The risk
Money is committed, but not tied to service.
A budget line or a grant can exist without a service target, a maintenance plan or a named owner. The scheme receives money and still cannot say what it is meant to deliver.
What we put in place
- A baseline the county and funder can both read
- A costed priority plan with a sequence
- Indicators that can be monitored after handover
Stage 02 · The risk
Equipment is procured before the operating model is agreed.
Meters, computers and software arrive before anyone has decided who reads the meter, who reconciles the payment and who owns the asset. The kit is new; the process is still paper.
What we put in place
- Specifications matched to the scheme's real capacity
- An asset plan and a named custodian
- Procurement and installation support, not a drop-off
Stage 03 · The risk
Nobody can sign, or everybody can.
A committee with an expired term, a bank mandate that no longer matches the office-holders, or a CBO preparing for WUA status without the records to prove its decisions.
What we put in place
- Clear roles, terms and decision rights
- A bank mandate and controls that match reality
- A practical CBO-to-WUA transition plan
Stage 04 · The risk
Estimated bills and connections nobody can see.
Unread meters, unbilled connections, leaks that are nobody's job, and a customer register that exists in three different books.
What we put in place
- Metering and a clean customer register
- Billing rules staff can apply consistently
- Exception reports for leaks, zero-use and arrears
Stage 05 · The risk
The money arrives, but the ledger does not know who paid.
M-Pesa confirmations sit on a phone, bank deposits sit in a statement, and the billing system still shows the customer as unpaid. Reconciliation becomes a monthly rescue.
What we put in place
- M-Pesa and bank-integrated billing
- Daily reconciliation with exceptions flagged
- Statements and reports that close on time
Stage 06 · The risk
Revenue is consumed and the asset quietly decays.
Collections improve, but there is no maintenance fund, no spares plan and no reporting rhythm. The scheme looks healthy until the pump fails.
What we put in place
- O&M and reinvestment reporting
- Ring-fencing advice for the board and county
- A review rhythm the scheme can sustain
This is an operating model, not a financial product. Trustline Water (Jenga Maji) does not collect, hold or disburse water revenue.
03 · Readiness path
From CBO to WUA, one gate at a time.
Every scheme starts somewhere different. The path is the same: prove the baseline, close the hardware gap, fix accountability, automate the money, then keep the customer informed.
Baseline: know what you have.
We assess ICT, records, revenue and governance on site, then agree the priority order with the scheme and the county. The output is not a wish list; it is a sequence with a cost and an owner.
Equip: close the hardware gap, including donations.
We specify, source or receive donated equipment, tag it, install it and train the people who will use it. A donation without an asset register and a custodian is just a future breakdown.
Govern: make the decision accountable.
Roles, bank mandate, tariff application, customer charter and a meeting rhythm. For a CBO preparing for WUA status, this is the core of the transition: the records must show who decided what.
Automate: bill what is used, collect what is billed.
Meter reads become bills; M-Pesa and bank payments reconcile; arrears and exceptions surface daily. The test is a month-end that closes without a spreadsheet rescue.
Communicate: keep the customer and county informed.
SMS and WhatsApp notices, a fault-reporting line, monthly service reports and a handover plan for the team that stays. The measure of the work is what the scheme can run without us.
04 · Interactive demo
The billing desk, without the billing risk.
A working simulation of the revenue chain we set up: readings, bills, M-Pesa payments and reconciliation. Change a reading, raise a bill, take a payment. No real meters, customers or money.
Billed this cycle
—
Collected
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Outstanding
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Collection rate
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| Meter | Customer | Reading | Bill | Status | Action |
|---|
The record
A short, evidenced record.
We publish the work we can attribute and the role we held. Other assignments are shared on request, with partner consent.
Programme
Implementing partner
STAWI programme · 9 counties
Delivered through an implementing partnership with Rural Water Management Solutions Kenya: baselines, capacity building for 45 schemes, digital billing onboarding, smart metering and level sensors.
- Period
- October 2024 – October 2025
- Counties
- Turkana, Marsabit, Isiolo, Samburu, Wajir, Garissa, Kitui, Makueni, Taita Taveta
Professional contract
Contracted professionals
Western Kenya · 8 counties
Smart billing systems and meters for water schemes, with governance capacity building for the committees that run them: Kisumu, Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma, Kisii, Homa Bay, Siaya and Migori.
- Focus
- Billing, metering, governance capacity
- Role
- Contracted WASH professionals
How to read this record. STAWI was delivered through an implementing partnership; the Western Kenya assignments were professional contracts. Nothing here implies endorsement by a county, donor or partner.
Start here
Start with a conversation, not a proposal.
Tell us about the scheme, the county or the gap. We will tell you what a baseline would take, and whether we are the right team to do it.