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Water Scarcity Hits Napak District

The district faces severe water shortages during the dry season as water levels drop down. At least only 65 percent of the population in Napak district has access to safe drinking water. The worst-hit sub-counties include Matany, Lorengecora Town Council, Lopei, Lokopo, and Matany town council.
16 Jan 2025 16:48
Jerrycans assembled up for water in Matany town council

Audio 4

Water scarcity has hit Napak district.  The district faces severe water shortages during the dry season as water levels drop down. 

At least only 65 percent of the population in Napak district has access to safe drinking water.   The worst-hit sub-counties include Matany, Lorengecora Town Council, Lopei, Lokopo, and Matany town council.

Becky Aguma, a resident of Napeipelu village in Matany Town Council said that they have to walk for over 15 kilometres to the district headquarters to access clean water.

Aguma said that sometimes they are forced to pay 1,000 shillings to carry a jerrycan of water from the borehole. She added that the nearby boreholes are overwhelmed by the high population. 

Aguma said that women have to risk their lives to walk long distances to look for clean water and this exposes them to security threats.

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Amina Longok, the LCI Chairperson of Lokalimok village in Matany Sub County says that sometimes they walk for over 4 kilometres to the neighbouring village to fetch water. 

Longok appealed to the government to repair for them the tank so that they resume their vegetable growing and get clean water for domestic use.

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Thomas Otim Loukae, a resident of Lopana village in Lokopo sub-county said that have very many boreholes that are broken and the community has resorted to sharing water from the dam with livestock.

He also urged the government to consider connecting the piped water in the trading centres to help reduce the high pressure exerted on boreholes by the community.

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Johnson Nyiria, the Health Assistant for Lokopo Sub County said that the water crisis has worsened the hygiene and sanitation in the households.

Nyiria said that the cases of diarrhoea are on the rise in the community due to the consumption of dirty water and poor hygiene. He observed that the community can't maintain hygiene in their households when they lack water.

Nyiria blamed the water crisis on the communities that have failed to manage water sources. He noted that the communities do not want to own the water facilities and maintain them for better functionality.

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David Lokut, the Napak district water officer said that the crisis is caused by the low water tables that have affected most of the boreholes due to excess heat.

Lokut noted that during the dry season, the community tends to share boreholes with livestock, and thus has culminated in much pressure on the boreholes.

Lokut said that the water coverage stands at 84 percent of the population in the district. He noted that the functionality used to be at 75 percent but has dropped to 65 percent because of the dry season.

Loduk explained that only 65 percent of the population has access to clean water while the rest are severely affected.

He noted that the population of the Town councils is greatly affected because they relied on the water pump that stopped working for almost a month after developing some technical problem.

Loduk said that although the National Water had rectified the problem a week ago, there is still a water crisis since the system is on and off and people are struggling.

Loduk also said that they have recommended the closer of the tap water in the Lokopo trading center because the water contained Nitrous chemicals and a lot of ammonia beyond the recommended standard for drinking water. He added that despite the directive, people have been forced to consume the water amidst the health risks. 

Loduk revealed that there are plans to connect piped water to the Lokopo sub-county under the Ministry of Water but the project may take some time.

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According to the Ministry of Water and Environment, the access rates in Napak vary from 67 % in Napak TC Sub-County to 95 % in Lotome Sub-County. Napak has 623 domestic water points which serve a total of 145,820 people to 141,914 in rural areas. 226 water points have been non-functional for over 5 years and are considered abandoned. Napak has 1 piped scheme.