Every spare nook in Nyiramugisha Melida’s home in Kasanva Zone, the lower side of Namuwongo that is a slum is filled with rusty jerry cans of water. She hauls all this water home in a wheelbarrow and sometimes on her head, making sure to stock extra. There’s often water shortages here. “What I have can take me for two weeks,” she says.
The Kampala Capital City Authority does not provide running water to people squatting in the slums, so they rely on the unsafe trenches cum water wells and swamps. Some lucky landlords will get a connection from National Water and Sewerage Corporation and resell water at around Shs400 for a 20 liter jerry can — much more than wealthy Kampalans in neighbouring Kibuli, Bukasa, Muyenga and Kisugu pay who have running water. These poor slum dwellers often spend around 20 percent of their budget on clean water. “It was very expensive buying from there,” says Nyiramugisha.
Walk along Kasanva Numuwongo’s lively avenues, and the first thing that hits you is the smell. Because there’s no sewage system here either, Kasanva residents often resort to defecating in plastic bags and throwing them in the street. They call them “flying toilets.” For Nyiramugisha and other Numwongo mothers, the lack of a water infrastructure has been a hazard.
At the slanting hill where Namuwongo sits, there were a lot of water sources which were embedded in thick green vegetation covering the whole place downstream. But the ‘rich neighbors uphill during the rainy days release their sewage which flows into the Kasanva slum contaminating their water sources’, LC1 chairperson Richard Byibesho complains.
However, his community’s prayers for safe clean water have been answered today.
Ecobank Uganda through Namuwongo based Hope for Children International, a local charity came up an initiative to donate a water storage tank and water purifiers to Kasanva residents worth Shs32 million as part of their corporate social responsibility activated to commemorate the Ecobank day under theme; “Safe Water, Healthy Living”.
Ecobank staff from Kampala headquarters pitched camp at Kasanva on Saturday, December 9, 2017 joining members of the community to launch the 10,000-litre capacity water tank and received purifiers which will be used to provide safe water in the area.
Speaking at the event, Kobusingye Primrose who is the Head of marketing and Communication at Ecobank said the main aim of the initiative is to enhance a culture of drinking safe water particularly among the younger generation.
“We are focusing on sustainable projects like water and sanitation because they have a greater permanent impact on the community we do business in,” she said. “As you can see over the last five years, on Ecobank day annually, we have invested in health and education of children among others which globally has been considered the vehicles to promote the future and growth of economic stability of every country.”
“We chose Namuwongo slum for this year’s water CSR because we discovered that authorities have actually not extended safe water points and solutions to there,” she added.
Kobusingye further noted that this year’s event took place simultaneously in 36 countries across middle Africa where Ecobank has a presence.
According to Managing Director Mr. Clement Dodoo, Ecobank Uganda as a Pan-African banking institution which is passionate about the development of Africa and African people has over the years made substantial contributions towards the socio-economic development of Uganda by giving various supports to individuals, institutions and communities across the country.
Mr. Dodoo said that besides donating a tank and water purifiers, Kasanva community members will also get a new toilet at their LC hall and a big television screen with which they can watch informative programs that will teach them about sanitation, financial management, including entrepreneurship skills and investing.
“We cannot give you water and forget about sanitation,” he replied to the LC1 chairperson’s request for a communal TV set. “We want to educate the public on how to save for investment rather than saving for consumption and that they can watch on TV after they are done with their work and school,” he said.
“They’re going to have safe drinking water in their homes, which is huge,” Makindye Division Probation Officer Patience Ayambire told TheUgandan.
“On behalf of Makindye leadership and KCCA, we are grateful to Ecobank for choosing our community during the 2017 Ecobank Day celebration.”
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