Residents of Bukasa-Lwamikoma Village in Kituntu Sub-county, Mpigi District, are facing a severe water crisis after the only government-installed public tap serving the area broke down two months ago.
The breakdown has left more than 2,000 residents struggling to access clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes, and watering livestock.
Many families, especially those with limited incomes, say they can no longer afford to buy water from neighbouring villages, where a 20-litre jerrycan is currently sold at Shs1,000.
Residents fear the prolonged water shortage could trigger outbreaks of waterborne diseases, saying the available water sources are unsafe and often require filtering before consumption.
According to Bukasa-Lwamikoma LC1 Chairperson Fredrick Sempereza, the crisis has severely affected women and children, who spend most of their time searching for water instead of attending to household responsibilities and education.
"We are in a very difficult situation and urgently need help. For two months, our village has had no water. Women now spend the entire day looking for water instead of doing household work because there is no other reliable water source in this area," Sempereza said.
He added that the shortage has also affected education and livestock keeping in the community.
"Children are no longer concentrating on school, and some livestock have died because we have no water to give them. A family that needs about 10 jerrycans a day would spend Shs10,000 daily, which is unaffordable. We now buy only enough water for cooking and have stopped bathing and washing clothes," he said.
Residents said households now require at least Shs5,000 daily to purchase water, forcing many families to abandon other income-generating activities as they search for the scarce resource.
Parents also revealed that children are arriving late at school because they must first fetch water from distant sources.
"We wake them up before dawn to fetch water. They walk long distances and return around 9:30 a.m., making them late for school. Because the journey is so long, many children can only carry five litres instead of a full 20-litre jerrycan," residents said.
The community expressed frustration that despite being located about two kilometres from River Katonga, they still lack access to reliable piped water.
Residents have appealed to Mawokota South Member of Parliament and State Minister for Tourism Susan Nakawuki to work with the Ministry of Water and Environment and relevant authorities to repair the broken system and extend additional pipelines from River Katonga to serve the growing population.
"We ask Minister Susan Nakawuki to help us. Let the government repair our water system and extend more pipelines from River Katonga so that the entire community can access clean and safe water," residents said.
The affected community currently depends on a single public water point installed under the Extension of Water Pipeline to Bukasa Rural Growth Centre Project, which has remained non-functional for the past two months.
