kamwenge launch booklet april 2016

8/18/2019 Kamwenge Launch Booklet April 2016

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BIGULI SUB COUNTY GETS THREE NEW

WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SYSTEMS

Kamwenge District

Local Government

Pump operator John Batuma opened the tap. Water

gushed out. White. Bright. Reecting the sunrays.

Those who were standing in its way literally took

off for their lives.

Hidden in their “ight” was great joy. The joy of

accomplishment…. the knowledge that safe water was

now in easy reach. Piped water had come to Rwebishahi

community in Biguli sub county, Kamwenge district.

This was the scene early April as the partners promoting

the Everyone Forever Vision in Kamwenge District

made a nal technical tour of the system ahead of its

ofcial commissioning on 27 April 2016.

Rwebishahi water supply and sanitation system is one of

the four that have so far been constructed in Biguli Sub

county, with nancial support from Water For People.

The others are: Malere-Nyakabungo-Butanda and

Busingye-Buhumuriro, also to be commissioned today

27th April 2016 by Eng. Aaron Kabirizi, the Director of

Directorate of Water Development in the Ministry of

Water and Environment.

The fourth system is Biguli-Kirinda which was

commissioned in June 2015, covering a 7km distance

and serving 7000 people.

Water For People has since 2012 been working with

A joyous moment as the technical team turns on the water at Rwebishahi Water Supply and Sanitation System


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Kamwenge District Local Government to improve Water

Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Services. The primary

focus has been on ensuring that everyone in the district

has access to safe water, forever. This means that every

household, every clinic and every school has a reliable

and sustainable supply of safe water.

Interventions started in Biguli Sub County, with

assessment in ve target villages including: Biguli (1353

people), Kirinda (1084 people), Busingye (907 people),

Buhumuriro (878 people) and Rwebishahi (1378 people)

and Malere Primary School with 1600 pupils.

High yields, good quality

The assessments identied sites for drilling of production

wells in each of these communities. The yields obtained

varied between 2500 litres per hour and 6,000 litres per

hour. The borehole depths ranged between 67 and 76

metres. Water Quality tests were also carried out by the

Central Laboratory of National Water and Sewerage

Corporation indicated that the water contained in

the aquifers being tapped are of very good quality

commensurate with the national standards for potable

water.

The piped water supply and sanitation systems were

designed and constructed. Community members were

sensitized about the cost of accessing water from the

system and the importance of contributing nancial

resources towards the maintenance of the scheme.

Soon enough, connections were being effected and

people were now accessing safe water at an affordable

fee. As at March 31st 2016, 13 tap stands and 3 kiosks

had been set up on the three new systems. All the

systems are managed by parish Water Supply and

Sanitation Boards, which have in turn hired private

scheme operators.

With a total storage capacity of 6550 metres, the

three systems can serve a domestic population of up

to 7,129 and an institutional population of 4,140. They

are all powered by three-phase electrical diesel-driven

generator sets of prime power 15kVA which powers the

electrical submersible pump. They cover a distance of

8.6km.

In terms of funding and other resources, Water for

People invested UGX1.2 Billion; Ministry of Water

and Environment and the Kamwenge District Local

Government provided technical and supervisory

support; Biguli Sub County provided manpower for

supervision and land acquisition, while the residents

provided the land for the sytems.

Engineers satisfed

Speaking during the technical monitoring of the three

systems, Peter Opwonya the team lead of Technical

Support Unit Six (TSU6) expressed his satisfaction with

the project.

“From the nal inspection we have had today, this project

and system is ready for commissioning. We are happy

that the contractor has handled most of the snags we

identied at the previous site meetings,” Opwonya said.

“The emphasis now should be on the private operator

and the board, working closely with the sub-county to

sensitise people and ensure there are systems and

structures to maintain and operate sustainably.”

“As a sector, we are now shifting from the point water

sources, for example shallow wells, springs, boreholes,

and moving to piped systems. If we have such systems

in Biguli and they are well managed, we should be able

to move in the right direction.”

New business, new challenges

Gloria Laadi, treasurer of the Busingye-Rwebishahi-

Buhumiriro water supply and sanitation board, agreed

they are on the right track, are learning important

lessons in maintaining the systems and improving

people’s lives.

MWE Engineer David Batenganya checks the resorvior readings at Rwebishahi, and later visits a kiosk at Malere


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“Previsously we were taking water from the swamp, or

buying unsafe water from the vendor. It was bad and

unhealthy,” Laadi recalls the situation before the piped

system was constructed by Water for People. The price

of water has since reduced from Sh500 to sh200 in her

area. In other areas it is as low as sh100.

Laadi admits that some challenges have emerged,

especially with Operation and Maintenance, as cases of

faulty taps have increased. Most of the money collected

from users is spent on fuel to pump the water. Also with

the onset of the rainy season, people harvest rainwaterfor domestic use which reduces the amount of money

collected by the board.

But on a positive note, from the funds raised, the water

board has been able to open an account in Post Bank.

Here the money collected is safely kept and there is

increased transparency and accountability.

Operators optimistic

Maintenance, fuel and rains are common issues of

concern when you talk to users. Hope Atuhire operates

one of the tapstands on the Rwebishahi system. She

also operates an eatery in the area.

While she says water has improved her earnings and

reputation, she also bemoans the coming of the rains

which have halved her earnings. She says residents

also need to adjust to the price increase from sh100 to

sh200.

Malere scheme operator Peter Tumwesiga calls for

more support in this early stage, to ensure viability of the

water project. He specically says there are challenges

relating with water meter reading which leads to losses.

LC3 chairman impressed

Simeon Komaho, Chairperson LC3 Biguli Sub county,

says all difculties are part of the initial stages of such

projects, and says the impact on the community is huge.

“We got the Water for People programe in 2012, we

then had 23% water coverage and were one of the

water stressed sub-counties in Kamwenge. But now we

have 53% safe water coverage,” he said.

“Water borne diseases have been greatly reduced and

people have more time to concentrate on improving

their income without worrying about water.”

“The majority of the people have not yet accessed water,

but we are optimistic, as this project is still going on.

Out of 40 villages, a scheme was commission for twovillages last year, now we are adding six more villages.”

We still have a challenge with the vulnerable and the

elderly. They might not have enough money to pay as

they fetch, they will fail, and go back to the ponds.”

“My appeal to government is that Biguli sub county be

considered in the rural electrication project to help cut

costs of buying fuel to pump water.”

Hosts are most pleased

Jackson Mugarura has a broad smile. There is a reason.

The headmaser of Malere Primary School will not only

host the function to launch the water systems in Biguli,

but is already one of the main beneciaries as a user.

“Oh. You cannot believe the happiness we, the students

and parents have,” he said.

“Our children now spend less time going to look for

water, and we worry less about their hygiene and water

diseases as we have safe water owing day and night.”

Water For aiming for 100% coverage and

sustainability

WASH SECTOR Business Development Consultant

George Mugenyi says their target is to make sure the

social service which is water is owing sustainably,

“so that we do not need any development partner orgovernment to always come in and pay for the services.

The community should be able to raise demand and

pay for the water and ensure the private orperators can

service the operations.“

Ministiry o Water,

Principal Engi-

neer David Bat-

eganya (lef) and

Sub Country chie

Ronald Mugume

(right) make sure

Hope Atuhaire’swater metre read-

ings are working

well. Atuhaire is

one o the first

tapstand operators

in Rwebishahi.


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kamwenge launch booklet april 2016

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