Residents took to the streets of Nairobi’s second largest slum, Mathare, on 31 July after five days without water left them facing serious disease outbreaks, they said.

"The public toilets are polluted and sick people are using the toilets as well, so we are afraid that diseases will break out soon. We have not had drinking water for a couple of days, only dirty water is left," one resident said.

"If we stay here without water for five days, we are just waiting for diseases to come," said another protester. "We don’t want our children to have cholera because they have to drink bad water."

Celline Achieng, of Umande Trust, a civil society organisation promoting water and sanitation initiatives in urban communities, told IRIN there were two major risks if water supplies are cut in slum areas: "First, insecurity could rise as people might fight over water. Second, lack of water can increase the risk of malaria, dysentery and even TB."

Water seller Steven Gitau said: "The private Nairobi Water Company [NWC] says it is losing too much money in Mathare and accuses us of stealing the water."

He added: "They say most of us use illegal connections, but these have been connected by staff members of the company. For example, I have paid them KSh6,000 [US$90] for the connection – 2,000 for the meter and 4,000 for the connection."

Another resident, Peter Karanja, said: "We now have to go to Eastleigh, 2km away, and pay KSh20 for 20l of water." The normal price is Ksh2 per jerry can of 20l in Mathare.

The NWC spokesman Mbaruku Vyakweli told IRIN that only 1 percent of water connections in the slum are legal. "If we are cutting the water, it is to decrease the number of illegal connections. We do this with the help of local CBOs [Community Based Organisations]," he said. "It is an advantage to Mathare residents, as legally connected water is much cheaper. We charge KSh0.5 for 20l."

He said notices had been placed in the newspaper and local TV stations advertising the cuts.

The demonstration took place in the Bondeni area of the slum, but was contained by police, who fired teargas to scatter the crowd and made several arrests.