Nwoya residents lack safe water

Residents of Nwoya district are in dire need of clean water and fear that some of the existing water sources might dry up as the dry season nears.

Margaret Ayet, 34, a resident of Kamuguru village in Anaka sub-county, said the only existing protected spring well does not have clean water and it dries up during the dry season.

"Life is hard in this village. During the dry season, we move over 3km in search of clean water. One can spend the whole day just looking for water. That means we do not have enough time to do our farm work," Ayet said.

However, Ayet, who is the chairperson of Reflect Women Group in Onyomtil-Koyo, said they intend to do a lot of advocacy with the leaders to provide more safe water sources.

Albert Oloya, the Nwoya district water officer, said clean water coverage in the district stands at 69%, which is low.

The most affected sub-counties are Lungulu, Lii and Got Apwoyo.

Oloya told New Vision that out of the 236,000 total population of Nwoya district, over 70,000 people, living in about 14,000 households, lack access to clean water.

He said they are left with no option but to drink water from unprotected sources or seasonal water streams that are shared with wild animals.

"Our departmental budget of about sh400m every financial year is not enough. This money is meant for repairing broken boreholes, sanitation and drilling new ones," he said.

Hope Masika, the Gulu cluster coordinator for ActionAid Uganda, said there is a high demand for water in the community and the district alone cannot address the problem.

"I am glad that the residents can identify their issues and come up with action points. They have also engaged local government or willing partners to help them out. This is how we answered their cry," Masika said.