Ngoma residents decry years of unsafe water as infrastructure crisis deepens

What the report says

Residents of Ngoma Parish in Ruhaama East, Ntungamo District, are facing a long-running water shortage that has pushed many households to depend on unsafe open wells, trenches and a faulty borehole, according to Nile Post. The report says animals also use some of these sources, heightening fears of contamination and waterborne illness.

Local residents described the strain of walking long distances for cleaner water, including trips of about four kilometres to Kashenyi Spring. The spring serves multiple cells and is under pressure from heavy use by people and livestock. Community members said the old borehole, installed decades ago, has remained out of service despite repair attempts, while some homes in Nyakanengo Cell continue to draw water from a trench dug in gardens.

The article attributes calls for action to residents and local leaders, who want government intervention to expand safe water access across the parish. The parish chairman and an LC3 leader said the situation has persisted for years and urged authorities to prioritize the area. Residents also said they are contributing labour to a separate water project linked to the Southern Western Umbrella for Water and Sanitation, but they still lack clarity on when it will reach Ngoma or whether it will be affordable.

Nile Post also reports that the water problem sits within a wider infrastructure gap: of Ngoma’s nine cells, only one reportedly has electricity. More broadly, the case reflects a common rural service-delivery challenge in Uganda, where limited water and power access can affect health, schooling and daily household work.