Obongi district authorities have initiated the process of decommissioning 64 boreholes that were installed 15 years ago during the first influx of South Sudanese refugees in the area.
Obongi District Water Officer Dominic Iranya explained that the boreholes have been abandoned due to poor water quality and low yield, rendering them unrepairable.
“We are on the right path, as Obongi district local government has a mandate to provide clean and safe water and sanitation services for the people living in the district,” Iranya said.
However, Chief Administrative Officer Humphrey Benson Otim assured that the decommissioning will not negatively impact water access, as coverage has improved from 36% in the 2019–2020 financial year to 78% in 2023–2024, with a target of 85% by 2025.
“The water sector contributes to human capital development, water and environmental resource management, and mindset change programs of the national development plan,” Otim said.
In the past five years, the water sector has achieved notable progress. The average walking distance to safe water points has reduced from 3.8 km to 1.4 km in rural areas and 0.7 km in urban areas. Institutional access has increased from 58% in 2019 to 85% in 2024, with a target of 90% by 2025.
Obongi Local Council Five Chairperson Hajji Buga Habibu Khemis stated that the functionality of water points increased from 65% in 2019 to 85% in 2024.
He added that, with the rehabilitation of non-functional water points, functionality is expected to rise to 90%, with a target of 95% by the end of 2025.
“New boreholes were drilled targeting villages without water points, reducing the number of villages without water points from 68 in 2020 to 36 in 2024,” Hajji Buga said.
Authorities in the area attribute the successes in the water sector to substantial investments in establishing climate-resilient water and sanitation infrastructure in the district.
The total cumulative investment stands at 16.8 billion shillings, contributed by the Government of Uganda (GoU) through the Ministry of Water and Environment, along with development partners like LWF, URCS, Better World, UNHCR, UNICEF, and OPM (DRDIP).
Despite the successes in the water sector, the district faces challenges such as the operation and maintenance of existing facilities.
These challenges include non-payment of user fees at some water points, mismanagement of user fees, vandalism, poor sanitation around water points, and the issue of non-functionality of some water user committees.