LIKELY QUESTIONS
- How would you translate Board and shareholder mandates into a practical 3-5 year strategy for MOWASSCO while balancing service reliability, compliance, and financial sustainability?
- What is your understanding of the regulatory framework governing Kenya's water sector, and how would you ensure MOWASSCO remains fully compliant with Water Acts, licensing requirements, and reporting obligations?
- Tell us about your experience leading a large, busy, and dynamic organization at senior management level. What results did you achieve?
- How would you improve reliability of water and sanitation services in a public utility facing aging infrastructure, customer pressure, and limited resources?
- Describe your approach to financial stewardship, including budgeting, cash flow management, financial reporting, and ensuring transparency and accountability in a public-sector environment.
- How have you managed stakeholder relationships with regulators, county government, donors, communities, employees, and the Board when their interests were competing or sensitive?
- What is your experience with donor-funded reform or infrastructure projects, and how would you align donor expectations with MOWASSCO's strategic priorities?
- If appointed, what would be your priorities in the first 100 days as Managing Director of MOWASSCO?

BEHAVIOURAL QUESTIONS
- Tell us about a time you led a major organizational change or turnaround in a utility, engineering, or public-service environment.
Model approach: Situation - Organization faced service failures, low morale, and weak controls. Task - Lead turnaround without disrupting essential services. Action - Assessed root causes, aligned leadership team, set measurable turnaround plan, improved performance reviews, strengthened operational discipline, and communicated frequently with staff and stakeholders. Result - Service levels improved, accountability increased, staff engagement rose, and governance confidence was restored.

- Describe a time you had to make a difficult decision involving compliance, ethics, or financial accountability.
Model approach: Situation - Faced pressure to approve or continue a course of action that carried compliance or financial risk. Task - Protect the institution while maintaining relationships and continuity. Action - Reviewed facts and regulations, sought expert/legal input, documented risks, escalated appropriately, recommended compliant alternative, and communicated decision firmly and professionally. Result - Avoided regulatory exposure, preserved integrity, and reinforced a culture of accountability.

- Give an example of a crisis or emergency you managed and how you led the response.
Model approach: Situation - Major service disruption, infrastructure failure, public complaint surge, or external shock threatened continuity. Task - Restore service quickly, protect the public, and manage reputational risk. Action - Activated response team, assigned roles, coordinated technical and communications functions, engaged authorities and communities, monitored restoration milestones, and captured lessons learned. Result - Service restored within target time, stakeholder confidence maintained, and preventive measures implemented.

- Tell us about a time you successfully managed competing stakeholder interests.
Model approach: Situation - Board, regulator, employees, community, and funding partners had conflicting expectations. Task - Reach a workable decision aligned to strategic and public-interest goals. Action - Mapped stakeholder interests, created structured engagement process, used evidence and data, negotiated trade-offs, and kept decisions anchored on legal obligations and customer impact. Result - Achieved buy-in, reduced conflict, and moved the project or policy forward with clear accountability.

SMART QUESTIONS TO ASK
- What are the top three strategic outcomes the Board expects from the next Managing Director in the first 12-24 months?
- What are the biggest operational and financial challenges currently affecting service reliability, and where does the Board believe the greatest turnaround opportunity lies?
- How would you describe the current relationship between management, the Board, regulators, county stakeholders, and development partners?
- What major capital, reform, or donor-funded projects are underway or planned, and what leadership gaps do you want this role to close?
- How will success in this role be measured - operationally, financially, on governance, and on customer service?

RED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR
- Vague or conflicting answers about Board-management boundaries, decision rights, or political interference in operations.
- Evasive responses on financial health, non-revenue water, audit findings, compliance issues, or unresolved regulatory challenges.
- Signs of instability such as high executive turnover, unclear strategy, poor stakeholder relationships, or unrealistic expectations for rapid results without resources.