Kasese locals turn to roadside channels as water crisis bites

For decades, access to safe water in Kasese District has been a challenge.

As a result, residents in different sub-counties and town councils have been trekking long distances in search of clean water while others resort to fetching water from streams and roadside drainage channels.

In the entire district, statistics put access to safe water at 59 percent. For rural communities, access is slightly lower at 58 percent, while in urban areas, it is at 61 percent.

However, some communities are more stressed. For instance, Mukunyu Sub-county has a water access rate of only 19 percent, Maliba Sub-county has 45 percent, Muhokya 37 percent, Kyarumba 29 percent, Bwesumbu at 43 percent, and Buhuhira at 42 percent.

While data from the Ministry of Water and Environment indicates that the district has a total of 3,391 domestic water points, most of them have not been functional for years, exacerbating the water crisis in the region.

Ms Cecilia Kabugho, 60, a resident of Kaleberyo Village in Lake Katwe Sub-county, said they spend about two hours every day, trekking to distant locations in search of water.

 “I have been in this area for four years; no leader has ever come to interact with us and understand the challenges that we go through,” she says.

“If you don’t have water in your house, you take around two hours trekking to Hajji’s hill where there is a water tank, which is close to Kahokya. That’s over four hours wasted to and fro fetching water,” she adds.

The other water access point in the area is River Nyamughasana, located in Kiburara Village, Kisinga sub-county, several kilometres away.

Ms Kabugho said the community also grapples with prolonged dry spells that adversely affect crop production.

 “I have around 11 acres of land where I plant cotton and maize. However, because of inadequate rains, my crops don’t do well, I just get about Shs6 million at the end of the season yet this huge chunk of land should be giving me at least about Shs15 million. I pray that our leaders find a way of getting us water to support agriculture,” she says.

According to the Ministry of Water and Environment, 36 percent of the people in Kasese have access to protected springs, 4 percent rely on shallow wells, 5 percent utilise deep boreholes, and 55 percent have access to public taps.

Ms Teddy Byema, another resident affected by the water crisis, says: “Many people here go up to a week without bathing. For the washing of clothes, I don’t even remember, but as far as I know, people never wash clothes because some people can put on the same clothes for close to a month.”

She says the scarcity of clean and safe water has led to the consumption of contaminated water, resulting in waterborne diseases.

“Whenever it rains, water easily collects along the tarmac road drainage channel, so we have dug holes along the road to enable us to collect it in one spot. We, however, don’t recommend it for drinking as we know it is not safe,” she says.

Ms Joyce Najjemba, the officer-in-charge of Kabirizi Health Centre II, says they treat about 15 diarrhoea patients a month, directly attributed to the drinking of unsafe water.

Ms Najjemba says unprotected water points, coupled with open defecation and the absence of standard latrines, significantly increase the risk of water contamination with faecal matter.

Mr Bernard Bwambale, a public health specialist at CONSENT, an NGO focusing on food safety and consumer rights, warns that collecting water from roadside sources puts residents at a high risk of developing cancer due to the presence of tar in tarmac roads.

Ms Rafaeline Katusabe, the assistant water engineering officer at Kasese District Local Government, says financial constraints impede their plans to address the water crisis.

“A simple gravitational flow scheme to serve just about 10 tap stands costs us more than Shs100 million because most of our water sources are in the mountains. So it necessitates that we implement water projects in phases,” Ms Katusabe says.

Ray of hope

Mr Han Heijnen, the president of the International Water Harvesting Alliance (IRHA), says they have installed 20 rainwater harvesting tanks in some communities that are water-stressed.

Each tank has a capacity of 8,000 litres.

Mr Francis Malikidogo, a project officer at Caritas Kasese, says the government needs to fully adopt the construction of rainwater harvesting tanks because of their reliability.

“One rainwater harvesting tank of 8,000 litres cost us just about Shs1.7 million. Yet these 8,000 litres can sustain 10 families that use two jerrycans a day each for more than 20 days,” Mr Malikidogo says.

what they say

Teddy Byema, resident: “Many people here go up to a week without bathing. For the washing of clothes, I don’t even remember, but as far as I know, people never wash clothes because some people can put on the same clothes for close to a month.”

Francis Malikidogo, project officer at Caritas Kasese: “One rainwater harvesting tank of 8,000 litres cost us just about Shs1.7 million. Yet these 8,000 litres can sustain 10 families that use two jerrycans a day each for more than 20 days.”

Rafaeline Katusabe, Kasese assistant water engineer: “A simple gravitational flow scheme to serve just about 10 tap stands costs us more than Shs100 million because most of our water sources are in the mountains.”

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