A Governance and Sustainability Framework for Community-Managed Borehole Systems in Turkana County, Kenya

Community-managed borehole systems are critical for water security in arid regions, yet their long-term functionality remains precarious. In Turkana County, frequent system failures undermine livelihoods, highlighting a critical gap in understanding the governance mechanisms that underpin sustainable management. This article develops a novel theoretical framework to analyse the relationship between the structural and operational characteristics of community water management committees and the technical sustainability of borehole systems in arid African contexts. The framework is synthesised through a critical review of existing community-based management and polycentric governance theories, integrated with empirical findings from the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. It proposes testable propositions linking governance variables to sustainability outcomes. The framework posits that committee functionality is not binary but exists on a spectrum, where a critical threshold of institutional maturity—specifically, the presence of transparent financial auditing and inclusive conflict resolution mechanisms—must be reached to significantly reduce the risk of borehole failure. A key proposition is that technical sustainability is directly mediated by these governance factors. The proposed framework moves beyond descriptive accounts of failure to offer a diagnostic model for analysing the governance determinants of borehole sustainability. It provides a necessary theoretical foundation for future empirical research and targeted intervention design. Future research should apply this framework in longitudinal, comparative case studies. Policymakers and NGOs should design capacity-building programmes that explicitly target the identified governance variables, particularly financial transparency and conflict resolution, rather than focusing solely on technical training. water governance, community-based management, sustainability, boreholes, arid lands, institutional analysis This article's novel contribution is the integration of polycentric governance theory with WASH sector praxis to create a diagnostic framework that identifies specific, actionable governance variables affecting borehole sustainability in arid African communities.