By Vincent Gunde
Dowa District Council’s Water Development Officer Fanny Muula, has appreciated the WASH interventions Orant Charities Africa (OCA) is implementing in Chakhaza B as supporting the council towards serving the communities of the district with reliable, safe and portable water in the district.
Muula said for Orant Charities Africa to come up with a solar powered water system is a plus to the council and this is adding up to the District Sanitation Implementation Plan (DSIP) the council is doing to make sure that people in the rural areas re accessing safe water.
Speaking during OCA presentation of WASH program progress report 2024-2025 to the District Coordinating Team (DCT), Muula said Orant Charities Africa WASH interventions have come at an opportune time when the council is moving away from boreholes to piped water system in the rural areas.
Muula encouraged Orant Charities Africa and other partners implementing similar WASH interventions in the district to incorporate their work with all necessary stakeholders when they are doing their work so that all the rural communities are served equally with portable and safe water.
“As a council, we are appreciating OCA WASH interventions in Chakhaza B and we encourage them to work with the necessary stakeholders for the project to benefit all the communities in the district,” she said.
Orant Charities Africa’s WASH Programs Manager Mayamiko Mwenda, said the WASH program started in 2016 and is currently being implemented in the area of Traditional Authority Chkhazaza B around Kasese Health Centre catchment in the district.
Mwenda said the program is being implemented with a goal of reducing morbidity and mortality of rural and vulnerable communities through improved access to water supply, sanitation facilities and good hygiene practices.
He said the program implementation progress for 2024-2025 included borehole drilling and installation of Afridev pumps, construction of solar powered piped water systems, major water point repairs and preventive maintenances, among others.
The Manager said the program has maintained 96% borehole functionality, supplied portable water to over 3,456 people from the Kasese catchment and improved sanitation facilities to 1000 students through school latrine construction.
He said the program supported the launch of Dowa WASH District Implementation Plan (DSIP), supplied 50 Kilograms of granular chlorine to Kasese Health facility for cholera prevention and conducting a joint field visit with relevant officers and stakeholders.
“Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) assist the program in the promotion of good WASH practices in Kasese catchment with Area Mechanics (AM) assisting in repairing and maintenance of hand pumps,” said Mwenda.
However, Mwenda said the program met some challenges in the course of implementation such as the presence of salty aquifers in some areas, fuel scarcity, low adoption of preventive maintenance and high inflation rates of prices of goods and services in 2024.
