By KT Reporter
Local council leaders in Kagamba Sub-County, Rakai District, have petitioned President Yoweri Museveni over a multibillion-shilling water project in the area that has stalled for over a decade. The leaders expressed concern that communities continue to suffer from acute scarcity of safe, clean water, despite the government’s major investment in the region.
In 2012, through the Water and Sanitation Development Service program, the government invested 8.5 billion shillings to excavate large dams at Kiyumbakimu Village, Kirangira Parish, to address water scarcity in Lwamaggwa, Ddwaniro, and Kagamba sub-counties. The dams were part of a 13 billion-shilling project allocated by the Ministry of Water and Environment, designed to supply water to residents via reservoirs and gravitational distribution.
Joram Gakyalo, Chairperson for Kirangira Ward, noted that the project stalled after the excavation of the dams, leaving the site abandoned for over ten years. He said repeated appeals to district leadership to follow up with the Ministry of Water and Environment yielded no results, prompting local leaders to seek direct intervention from President Museveni.
Gakyalo added that the prolonged period of idleness has led to the deterioration and vandalism of the supply equipment, including pipes, pumps, and fittings, delivered during the first phase. Bushes have overgrown the two main ponds, which the communities are now using as open-water sources for both humans and livestock.
The local leaders are seeking a meeting with the President to appeal for the completion of the water project. Richard Tumwine, Chairperson of Kiyumbakimu Village, explained that the works were initially commissioned by the late Maria Mutagamba, former State Minister for Water and Environment and Rakai District Woman MP.
However, her successors failed to follow up, leaving the project incomplete. Tumwine warned that the open ponds have become death traps for both people and livestock. The petition was filed through State Minister for Microfinance Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, and is supported by Samuel Luke Ssekamwa, Rakai LC5 Chairperson, who emphasized that previous reminders to the Ministry of Water and Environment received no action, justifying the need to appeal directly to the President.
The leaders hope that Museveni’s intervention will actualize their dream of safe and clean water supply for the affected communities.
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