Senior Reporter
Residents in Muko Sub County, Rubanda District are facing a severe shortage of clean water for household use.
People living in the villages of Kagano, Karengyere, Rwamahano, and Rwaburindi in Muko Sub-county are struggling to access clean water, often having to travel long distances to find it.
To tackle this issue, a local non-governmental organization called Trades of New Hope, in partnership with Designs for Hope, has launched a water project valued at Ugx 125 million. Laban Biryomumeisho, the director of Trades of New Hope, recognized the water scarcity problem in these communities and felt compelled to take action.
Chris Aaron, the Executive Director of Designs of Hope, emphasized the desperate situation faced by the locals in obtaining clean water and explained their organization’s decision to support the project. Residents like Jason Mukama, Immaculate Orishaba, and Godfrey Ntamuturano welcomed the initiative, recognizing that access to clean water would greatly enhance their quality of life.
Rwamahano, one of the affected villages, is home to the Batwa community, an indigenous group that historically inhabited the forests of Bwindi, Echuya, and Mgahinga in the Kigezi sub-region. The Batwa, a semi-nomadic pygmy tribe, traditionally relied on these forests for sustenance through hunting and gathering. However, in 1992, they were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands by the government for wildlife conservation purposes, without being provided with alternative housing.
In recent years, several non-governmental organizations and religious groups have intervened to address the challenges faced by the Batwa by acquiring land and resettling them.
