Defence, Police in spot of bother over unpaid water bills

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Between securing the country's borders, the Defense ministry must also wrestle with a mountain of unpaid water bills, lest the taps run dry on its watch.

The damning reality comes hot on the heels of a petition Dr Silver Mugisha, the managing director of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) made to Parliament.

While presenting on February 11, 2025, Mugisha told the joint finance and natural resources committees that thirty-six entities, including hospitals, Prime Minister’s Office, defence ministry, Uganda Prisons and the Uganda Police Force, collectively owe NWSC over sh100b.

Spot of bother

For the case of Defence, documents seen by New Vision Online reveal that unpaid NSWC bills totalled sh27.86b at the start of the 2024/25 Financial Year (FY) of which, sh6.17b was brought forward from the 2022/23 FY.

During this year, the ministry has paid water arrears worth sh8.65b and is processing another sh2.4b payment in the ongoing third quarter and sh2.4b in the next quarter, which will bring down the outstanding bill to sh14.4b.

Despite efforts to whittle down this towering debt, Edith Buturo the entity’s undersecretary and Francis Ngabirano Kahiriita, the officer in charge of logistics, contend that fully taming utility bills remains an uphill battle.

“The ministry is accumulating unpaid water bills this financial year as it clears the arrears stock. The estimated consumption this financial year is sh21.9b. Therefore, at the close of June 2025, unpaid water bills will amount to sh36.3b,” a brief states.

Kahiriita attributed persistent shortfalls on budget constraints.

DCGP Samuel Akena, Eli Muhumuza Accounting officer Uganda Prisons Service ,Samuel Emiku accounting officer Uganda Prisons Service before the joint committee. (Credit: Maria Wamala)

According to documents, the ministry on an annual basis is allocated, a water budget of sh12.7b. And yet, it consumes approximately sh27b per year water per year.

“It implies that we shall be in debt for some time until measures we are proposing take root,” he warned.

The situation he says has been worsened by NWSC tariffs and increased consumption as a result of new Uganda People Defence Forces (UPDF) installations.

“These tariffs have increased from initially sh3,558 per cubic meter in FY 2021/22 to sh4,274 per cubic meter in FY 2024/25 representing an increase of sh716 per cubic meter,” Kahiriita cited.  

Until, they develop their own water sources and supply network in peri-urban and rural areas in conformity with President Yoweri Museveni’s directive, this remains a tall order.

Police

The same situation extends to Police which as at the end of the last financial year was indebted to the tune of sh24.139b. The force is projected to incur another debt amounting to sh7.142b in the ongoing fiscal year.

“To begin with, the problem of water consumption goes beyond Police staff. It is also for the average 4,000 people that visit Police throughout the country. In custody, we have an average of 2,700 and about 1,300 visit those people. When they visit Police facilities, they use national water,” Aggrey Wunyi, the forces undersecretary hypothesised.

“The most disturbing part is that we still have those old structures which you see. The plumbing system is dilapidated and we have a lot of water leakages which we cannot plug with the budget constraints that we currently have,” he added.

Adding that the other contributing factor is various instances of fire outbreaks which necessitate Police interventions.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, James Ocaya, and Aggrey Wunyi, accounting officer Uganda Police Force before the joint committee of water and natural resources with the committee of finance. (Credit: Maria Wamala)

Uganda Police Force’s current strength stands at 47,951. The new recruits about to pass out are expected to increase their strength to 51,406. Of which a total of 44,200 staff reside in barracks countrywide.

The population of immediate family members is projected at 195,289. Of which all use water.

Natural resources committee chairperson Herbert Ariko (Soroti East, NRM) described the situation as alarming, warning that it could significantly impact NWSC, one of the few consistently stellar-performing public entities.

“It has been one of the only sustainable and profitable public enterprises that Uganda had been left with. And that for a long time, they did not have to run to Parliament for budget support to help them pay unpaid bills. They did not run to parliament to say we cannot pay suppliers or to terminate contracts in which we had committed to distribute water,” Ariko noted.

“The President pledged that he so wished that every village in Uganda should have at least one clean water source. Indeed, the ministry of water is trying its best through the umbrella and also through the rural water supply system but the most sustainable way to give people clean and hygienic water is piped water for which the NWSC as of now has comparative advantage,” he added.