New MoWE Toilets Giving Hope For Zombo Girls To Remain In School
Officials join Minister Sekindi in inspecting the new girls' toilet at Zombo Lower PS during its commissioning. Photo by Andrew Cohen Amvesi
WEST NILE: Ruth Atimango, 17, a P.6 pupil of Zombo Lower Primary School (PS) in Zombo Town Council, Zombo district regained hope of remaining in school following the construction of a new ten-stance toilet for the girls in the school.
Atimango was one of the happiest girls when the State Minister of Water in the Ministry of Water and Environment (MoWE), Aisha Sekindi recently commissioned the girls’ new toilet facility at the school.
The girls’ toilet was among the seven-stance boys’ toilet, a two-stance staff toilet and a ten-stance public water borne toilet at Zombo Town Council main market commissioned by the Minister.
The toilets are a component of the multi-million piped water supply systems implemented by the Ministry of Water and Environment through Water and Sanitation Development Facility – North in the districts of Nwoya, Obongi and Zombo. The projects are funded by the German government through KFW Development Bank.
But during the commissioning ceremony, Atimango said many of her colleagues had dropped out of school while others transferred to the neighboring Zombo Upper PS, Patekpaduk PS and Aje PS due to inadequate toilet facilities at the school.
“Our old five-stance toilet has only two doors, forcing us to always wait in a long queue during break time to visit the toilet. We usually fear entering the open toilet stances because boys can easily see us and laugh at us. That is why many of my friends left school while others transferred elsewhere,” Atimango said.
She noted that out of 52 pupils in P.5 class in 2023, they were only 23 girls while in P.6 last year, their number reduced to 16 girls out of 43 pupils because others left the school mainly due to the toilet challenge.
“I was also about to leave but now I can’t leave school because the government has constructed a new toilet for us. I’m very happy today and because of that, I promise to remain in school and study hard to pass in first grade,” Atimango promised.
Relatedly, Fosca Yiyothin, a mother of three from Atyenda East village in Zombo Town Council, said the public stand post of water they have received will give her ample time to engage in farming so as to generate income to support her family.
She also said the source of water will enable children to go to school early as opposed to those days when they used to miss school and at times go late due to lack of nearby water source.
“This water will help me a lot because it is now closer to my home. I used to fetch water from the well which is about 5km away from my home but now with the coming of this water, I will save the time I used to waste in search of water for cultivating in my field. Secondly, I used to send children to first go and fetch water from the well and as a result, they would miss school or go to school very late but this time, the challenge is already solved. I want to thank the government of Uganda so much for this water,” Yiyothin said.
According to Eng. Catherine Agwai Angwec, the Branch Manager Water and Sanitation Development Facility North, the piped water systems were designed for 20 years.
“In Zombo here, we have two pump stations where we are abstracting water of 20,000 liters per hour and 16,000 liters per hour. This is pumped using both solar and grid and it is pumped to a reservoir tank of 254 cubic meters on dwarf walls and this water is then distributed to the different consumers. For now, we have 669 connections and six public stand posts,” Agwai explained.
Morrish Enzede, the Assistant Zombo District Water Officer, observed that before the coming of the project, the status of water functionality in Zombo Town Council was estimated at 67 percent, adding that with the coming of the scheme, it is estimated to take the water coverage in the area up to 88 percent.
“Therefore, allow me to appreciate the MoWE and all the stakeholders such as KFW for this great project. I think from today onwards, as I walk around, I will walk with my head up as the water officer because of this project,” Enzede said.
James Oyulu Oruna, the Zombo district chairperson, said they are very thankful to the government of Uganda for fulfilling its manifesto of provision of the sanitary facilities, and the clean and safe water to the citizens.
He appealed to the locals to now focus on embracing the different government programs like EMYOOGA and the Parish Development Model (PDM) among others to improve on their household income.
Eng. Richard Matua, the Commissioner in the MoWE, said their main challenge has been inadequate funds. He promised that if more funds are availed, the piped water will be extended to many more areas which are still lacking clean water.
However, while representing the Permanent Secretary MoWE, Assistant Commissioner, Walter Okello, assured the public that the water is not for free.
Okello encouraged locals to willingly pay the Shs50 per 20-liter Jerrican and Shs2,500 per 50 Jerricans, a pro-poor price-tag he said was set to enable smooth operation and maintenance of the system.
In her remarks, Sekindi appealed to the beneficiaries of the project to now save the money they were using for treating water related diseases, for starting other income generating activities so that they can come out of poverty.
Sekindi also requested district officials to consider using the conditional grants they receive from the central government for the repair of water sources such as boreholes to instead extend the piped water system to areas that still lack clean water.
The commissioned piped water systems were later handed over to Northern Umbrella of Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Water and Environment (MoWE) for operation, maintenance and future expansion.
