Residents of Ruhinda County, Mitooma Districthave threatened not to re-elect any politician if they do not the water and sanitation crisis in the area.
The most affected villages are Kyambukama, Rukutaka, Rwanja, Mayanga, Rurehe, Mutara, Kabira, Nyakishowa, Kakyeza and Kyibale.
James Katarikawe, a resident of Rugando village says access to safe water still remains a big challenge yet Ruhinda politicians keep promising to sort this issue.
“My vote will be tagged to water nothing else. We rejected Kahinda Otafiire thinking Kahonda will be better but he has failed (to deliver)”.
During a field trip to some of the rural areas of Mitooma District, it was discovered that residents fetch water from seasonal streams which are shared with animals.
A resident of Nyakatete village said they only access water during the rainy season.
In Katagata village, Janet Tweheyo said “During the dry season, streams dry up and the only way we can access water is by digging holes within the stream until we access water underground. The exercise is so hectic in a way that after digging the hole, you have to wait for an hour or two for water to fill then you can fetch it and climb upstream with heavy jerrycans.”
Tweheyo says the leaders have desist from fighting each other and do programmes that help our people.
“I will not vote these leaders who think Ruhinda is for soldiers only,” she added.
Due to the difficulties in accessing water treatment facilities, most times the residents drink contaminated water which leads to diseases. For example, residents of Kakyeza can only access water from a stream of water which is four kilometres away from the village.
The silver lining though is that Greater Bushenyi, through its rural water and sanitation project that was funded by the EU, is constructing boreholes, protecting springs and digging shallow wells to enable residents access safe water.
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