The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has commissioned and handed over 247 newly drilled and rehabilitated boreholes in Agago District, marking the completion of a four-year multimillion-shilling water access project.
However, the organisation and district leaders have warned that weak management of community maintenance funds is undermining the sustainability of rural water sources.
The boreholes were drilled and rehabilitated between August 2025 and July 2026 under the Pii En Kwo (Water is Life) project, funded by Charity: Water and officially commissioned on Friday at Te-Bung Village in Kal Parish, Patongo Sub-county, by Agago Deputy Resident District Commissioner Susan Akot Moro.
The interventions benefited communities in Patongo, Lokole, Wol, Kotomor, Lirakato and Kuywee sub-counties. Despite the investment, district officials said that Agago’s actual access to safe water is significantly lower than previously reported.
Alfred Ocaya, the Agago Assistant Water Officer, said a recent verification exercise led to the decommissioning of several water points established during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency after they were found to have inflated the Ministry of Water and Environment’s database.
“The actual safe water coverage in Agago is only 72 per cent,” Ocaya said, noting that previous records had indicated coverage of 99 per cent. He attributed the frequent breakdown of boreholes to poor accountability by community water management committees, accusing some committee members of diverting maintenance funds for personal use instead of repairing broken facilities. According to Ocaya, households contribute between 1,000 and 2,000 Shillings towards borehole maintenance.
However, repairs are often delayed for months, and in some cases up to a year, because the money is unavailable when spare parts are needed. He also criticised politicians who pledge to repair boreholes during election campaigns, saying such promises discourage communities from saving for routine maintenance.
To improve accountability, Ocaya said the government has reduced the membership of water management committees from nine to three people, a chairperson, secretary and treasurer, making it easier to monitor finances and address complaints of mismanagement.
Agago Principal Assistant Secretary Samuel Nyeko urged communities that donated land for the water projects to protect the facilities and strengthen sanitation practices. He said access to safe water alone would not guarantee better public health unless households consistently constructed and used latrines.
Agago District Secretary for Works and Technical Services David Onencan appealed to LWF to extend its interventions to underserved parts of the district that still lack safe water.
He also urged local leaders and Village Health Teams to enforce sanitation standards by ensuring every household has a functional latrine, drying rack and other hygiene facilities to prevent contamination of water sources. Residents welcomed the project, saying it has eased the burden of accessing clean water.
Betty Akello, a resident of Orango Te-Bung Village, said her community had previously endured frequent borehole breakdowns that forced families to fetch water from distant villages.
“Our borehole used to break down almost every week. Now it has been properly repaired, and we have enough clean water to keep our homes, clothes and surroundings clean,” she said. LWF Project Manager Richard Akena Oloya said the organisation is now shifting its focus from hand-pump boreholes to piped water systems.
He said LWF has already drilled three production wells at Opyelo, Ligiligi and Omot, with the Omot piped water scheme expected to serve both Omot and Arum sub-counties.
To improve sustainability, Akena said LWF is introducing prepaid water management systems, which are already being piloted in Labala, Lamiyo and Omot. Under the system, users pay electronically before collecting water, enabling management committees to build maintenance reserves and respond quickly to emergency repairs.
He said the model is designed to address the long-standing challenge of boreholes remaining non-functional because communities are unable to mobilise repair funds after breakdowns.
According to Akena, Agago has more than 1,000 registered boreholes, but nearly half are currently non-functional due to inadequate operation and maintenance. He urged communities to enforce local bylaws, remove unaccountable committee members and review maintenance fees to reflect the rising cost of spare parts, noting that replacing a single pipe now costs more than 300,000 Shillings.
Akena warned that without stronger community ownership and better management of rural water infrastructure, Uganda risks falling short of Sustainable Development Goal Six, which aims to achieve universal access to safe water and sanitation by 2030-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
