By KT Reporter
A new report by the Omoro District Water Department has revealed that Omoro Town Council has the largest tap water coverage compared to other urban centers in the district, despite an overall low number of connected taps. According to the report covering the period from September 2025 to September 2026, Omoro Town Council has 40 functional water taps, followed by Labora Sub-county with 10, Acet Town Council with 2, and Palenga Town Council with 1, bringing the district’s total to 53 connected taps.
The report further shows that Omoro Town Council has 25 water points serving a population of 7,500, while Acet Town Council has 45 water points serving 6,758 people. Palenga Town Council has 21 water points serving 4,757 residents, and Labora Sub-county has 10 water points serving 15,900 people. The district’s overall water data indicates that Omoro has 786 functional boreholes and 9 non-functional ones, with 53 public taps, bringing the total number of water points to 795.
The report also notes that 198,623 people have access to safe water, while 14,729 still lack it — representing 93.1% safe water coverage for the district’s total population of 213,352. Mecak S. Patrick, the Omoro District Water Officer, said the department is recommending that more boreholes be drilled in urban centers to boost coverage.
“We have boreholes that were to be drilled in Abwochbar in Abwoch Parish and Amalac in Abuga Parish, both in Abuga Sub-county. We recommend relocating them to Parwech and Laminlyaka wards in Omoro Town Council because the water coverage in the town council falls below the district average of 53.47%,” he said.
Patrick added that some development partners, such as Texans and Uganda Mission, who had been drilling boreholes in various sub-counties, abandoned the projects after their property was vandalized and batteries were stolen from their sites.
“These partners operate under a policy that once their property is vandalized in an area, they immediately leave. Because of this, we recommend reallocating the borehole meant for Lagwedola in Lujorongole Parish, Lakwana Sub-county, to Olio in Kulu Otit Parish, Bobi Sub-county, which currently has no water source,” Patrick explained.
Isaac Newton Ojok, the Omoro District Secretary for Health and Education, emphasized the need for community engagement on water and sanitation at the village level. “Our communities must be engaged in the maintenance of boreholes by forming strong water source committees per water point. Without this, the use of unsafe drinking water will continue to rise, especially in rural areas,” said Ojok.
He added that the 2024 census showed that Omoro District had 48,605 households, of which only 11,499 (24.57%) had improved sanitation facilities, 32,133 (68.65%) had unimproved latrines, while 3,171 households still practiced open defecation. Ojok said more sensitization on sanitation should be carried out in all sub-counties and town councils to reverse this trend. Vinansio Okello, the District Health Educator, praised the efforts of the Village Health Teams (VHTs) for their continued community engagement on hygiene and sanitation.
“The work of the VHTs is commendable; their efforts have helped raise water coverage in the district to 93.1%, which is good for the community. We shall continue engaging VHTs on sanitation and household hygiene to eliminate open defecation,” he said.
The Omoro District Local Government plans to spend UGX 1.29 billion in the 2025/2026 financial year under the water sector. The budget includes UGX 71.9 million non-wage, UGX 14.8 million transitional development grant, UGX 395.2 million for the rural water and sanitation department, and UGX 812 million for the piped water and sanitation department.
However, by the end of the first quarter, the Ministry of Finance had released only UGX 23.9 million, representing 1.85% of the total budget. Of this, the water sector spent UGX 10.9 million, which is 45.8% of the total funds released. As of September 2025, Omoro District had 848 safe water sources, including 795 deep boreholes and eight piped water systems with 53 public taps.
There are currently no functional springs or shallow wells, as most have dried up. The functionality of boreholes stood at 98.99%, while safe water coverage reached 95.1% by the end of the first quarter. The number of villages without water reduced from 128 to 121, reflecting 74.12% access.
-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
