Museveni directs minister to improve water coverage in Mityana

President Museveni has directed the  Minister of Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris, to quickly work out modalities of extending safe and clean water villages in Mityana District which are currently water stressed.

In a letter dated February 28, Mr Museveni said he had received information that about 120/720 villages in the area, do not have a clean water source like a borehole or a stand water pipe which risks lives.

“I am therefore directing you [Minister for Water] to work with lands minister Judith Nabakooba to rectify this. The policy of the NRM is all the 70,000 villages of Uganda should, as of now , have at least one good source of water and the plan is that more sources per village should be created in the coming years so that people do not have to line up for water ," Mr Museveni’s letter reads in part.

State minister for water, Ms Aisha Ssekindi said she has already written to Ms Nabakooba asking her to share a list of villages without clean water.

“We are not going to consider all the villages until we get enough money .In the meantime, if we use solar powered boreholes, one can serves four villages using the pipes,” She said

 Ms Nabakooba confirmed receiving the letter urging implementation of the presidential directive.

 "Currently, they [Ministry of Water] are constructing some piped water in some areas of Mityana Municipality like Ttanda and other trading centers. They are also going to see how they can allocate boreholes to villages without water,” she said

Mr Patrick Mugisha Nshimye, the Mityana District chairperson said: “In the municipality the situation is not that bad, clean water is available to a big percentage of the dwellers.”

Shs28million

Uganda failed to attain the access to clean water target in rural areas as planned in the Water and Environment development sector plan 2015/2016 to 2019/2020, according to government data.

The plan targeted 79 percent clean water access from boreholes in rural areas, but only 68.7 percent was attained between 2016 and 2020. Out of the 60,000 boreholes constructed across the country, 12,000 are not functional and the government is capable of repairing only 40 percent of those boreholes that break down. 

“Government needs Shs1b annually for maintenance of boreholes,”Mr Alfred Okot Okidi, the permanent secretary ministry of water said on March 23.

About seven million Ugandans lack access to safe water and 28 million people do not have access to improved sanitation facilities.