Wakiso district leaders have castigated the National Water and Sewerage Corporation– NWSC for failing to fulfill its duty of supplying clean safe water to residents.
The leaders argue that despite the presence of the NWSC infrastructure, people in various areas across Wakiso district are unable to access clean safe water, which compromises their health.
Wakiso District LC V Chairperson, Matia Lwanga Bwanika, says that the district that is regarded as a city, lacks the required facilities for a city despite the fact that the collects lots of revenue from residents. He explains that government regulations bar local leaders from constructing water facilities where NWSC operates.
Bwanika was one of the speakers at the commissioning of boreholes, constructed by Christian organization, Jireh African Mission in Mende Sub County. The Mende Sub County LC 3 Vice chairperson, Mathias Ssemujju, says that they have been crying and advocating for their area to have water, which attracted the organization to construct a borehole for them.
Ssemujju challenged the government on taking the mere installation of NWSC pipes and infrastructure in their area as an automatic supply of water, which is not true. He revealed that although pipes are installed in most parts of Mende Sub County, residents don’t receive water while in some places where they receive it is intermittent.
Ssemujju appealed to donors to support them by providing them with water, saying that in most parts people share water with animals, which is dangerous for their health. He also asked NWSC to come in and save the situation, adding that if it is not possible, the government should mandate the district to provide water to the rural parts.
Samuel Apedel, the Public Relations Manager of NWSC admitted that some areas at the end of their network do not receive enough water as they should get. Describing Wakiso as the fastest growing area in Kampala Metropolitan, Apedel said NWSC is aware of the challenge and that plans are underway to focus on Wakiso East Development project to provide enough water.
Apedel also attributed scarcity of water to cut pipes due to Kakiri-Masuliita road construction works, which affected water supply in the areas, saying that arrangements are being made to replace the affected pipes. According to Apedel, NWSC has started implementing a new project to increase the water supply to the people of Wakiso.
Residents say that they are suffering from water scarcity because the taps of NWSC take 3 to 6 months without water and they only get it 2 days during the rainy season. Josephine Namaganda, a resident of Kakunyu said that residents rely on open water wells in bushes and in some areas, the water sources are blocked by landlords who fence of the access roads and water sources.
She said that the water shortage in their area has been a major challenge. Namaganda said that lack of a protected water source was a big challenge to the elderly who were finding it hard to walk down the valley for water.
Christopher Nkuusi, a religious leader in Mende Sub County, said that most residents are getting water from open water sources. Nkuusi was optimistic that the construction of the boreholes will save the people especially the youngsters from drowning while fetching water in the open water source.
He said that the water source is part of their plan to construct 80 boreholes to complement government policy of increasing water coverage in the community. Statistics show that safe water coverage currently stands at 43 per cent, which translates to only 860,000 residents with access to safe and clean water compared to the estimated population of two million people residing in the district.
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