The Ministry of Water and Environment has asked the government to consider increasing its budget allocations for the fiscal year 2023/24 to help address special challenges that have affected the sector since 1986. 

Sam Cheptoris, the Minister of Water and Environment, while speaking at the opening of National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifesto week at the president’s office building in Kampala on Monday, May 15, said the ministry is facing challenges of poor operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities in the country. 

“There has been a stagnation of rural water source functionalities on the account of weak community-based management and negative local political influence on user communities,” he said. 

Cheptoris added that freezing of components of the budgets like non-wage that was deemed consumptive, yet they affect delivery of project outputs and the 3% annual population growth does not match the budget allocations. 

“There has been a high demand for increased supply area coverage and the inability to provide infrastructure to meet the growing water has crippled our efforts to offer consistent services to people,” Cheptoris revealed. 

The financial performance of the ministry together with its agencies and sector grants disbursed to local governments in the last two financial years showed that poor funding has been responsible for the slow progress of the sector in the economy. 

“In the fiscal year 2021/22, the approved budget was sh1.4 trillion but only sh1.05 trillion were released representing 75.5% of the approved. In the fiscal year 2022/23, the approved budget was sh1.5 trillion but the total release up to the end of March was sh991.28b representing 66%,” Cheptoris highlighted. 

Denis Ocare, the assistant commissioner policy and planning department in the Ministry of Water and Environment said that the ministry has started continuous engagements with the Ministry of Finance to increase budget allocations. 

“There is a need for more investments in water supply and sanitation to meet the service gaps,” he advised. 

The Water and Environment Ministry officials led by Minister Sam Cheptoris (C), the permanent secretary and director of NRM party manifesto implementation unit under the office of the President Willis Bashaasha in Kampala during the manifesto week. (All Photos by Isaac Nuwagaba)

Currently, the water service coverage stands at 78% while sewerage service coverage is at 23% with the hope that the water service coverage can go up from 74% to 86% in 2026. 

Planting 40m trees yearly  

Ocare said that the ministry seeks to plan 40m trees under the Running Out Of Trees (ROOTs) on individual and commercial farms, fragile ecosystems (river banks and lake shores), government and non-government institutions, road reserves, along railways and pipelines, wildlife conservation areas, green parks in urban areas, forest reserves and communal lands. 

There is a high rate of deforestation on private lands and central forest reserves encroachment and giving out illegal land titles by the Uganda Land Commission and District Land Boards. 

“This has continued to create very many litigations and related costs to the National Forestry Authority (NFA),” Paul Buyerah Musamali, the director of policy and planning at NFA said. 

The director of the NRM party manifesto implementation unit under the Office of the President, Willis Bashaasha, asked all ministries, departments and agencies of government to promote sustainable industrialization for inclusive growth, employment and wealth creation. 

“Increase household’s access to basic safe and affordable water supply in rural areas from 69% to 81% and access in urban areas from 78% to 88% by 2026 paying particular attention to ensuring availability of at least one source per village for unserved districts,” Bashaasha said. 

Bashaasha added that there is a need to focus on rural water supply and sanitation, small towns’ water supply and sanitation, large water supply and sanitation, water resource management, natural resource management and water for production (irrigation).