Lwengo: People, animals share water sources

Leaders in Lwengo district have said residents are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases as a result of drinking contaminated water, calling for government intervention.

Residents of Kengwe, Kitongole, Kiteredde and Bamunanika villages in Kyazanga sub county in the Lwengo district are reportedly sharing water with animals hence putting their lives at risk.

Scarcity of clean water in the district is forcing residents to draw water from ponds, according to the district leadership.

Ibrahim Kitatta, LC V chairperson Lwengo district told the Nile Post that the situation is worsening each day.

"The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has failed to make the coverage to help us get clean and safe water. In most of the areas people are buying water which is very expensive. Water borne diseases are rampant in this district. People are sharing water with animals. This is a serious problem that needs an immediate solution, “he said.

Kitatta told the Nile Post as leaders they want the government to invest in water harvesting and ensure that Lwengo is put in the list of cattle corridor dry districts so that it can also benefit from the massive investments by NWSC that is going to help districts such Kazo, Lyantonde among others.

He explained the local government has been incapacitated, adding that in one year they were only able to dig two dams in two villages out of 438 villages.

The leader of opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga said the disservice the people of Lwengo are getting has had to contend with in the nearly four-decades NRM occupation.

"Humans and animals compete for this water. One wonders the motivation for a young man like this Lwengo chair to be comfortable with a tired regime. Ugandans deserve better, “he said.

Samuel Apedel, the NWSC public relation manager told the Nile Post that those areas are outside their jurisdiction, adding that for urban centres, and municipalities are supplied by NWSC but there is a directorate of rural water which deals with small towns.

"NWSC only goes where the government has sent them. So those areas you have mentioned, they are not under our jurisdiction," he said.