Kamupupu – Residents of Kamupupu village in Kavango West Region have resorted to drinking dirty water from a waterhole used by wild animals as their borehole has been dysfunctional since January. The villagers also say they have not taken a bath for several weeks because of the lack of water.
According to them, the Department of Rural Water Supply has not responded to any of their reports they submitted to the department for action. Kamupupu village is located south of Tondoro village, near Tondoro in Kavango West Region and is home to over 100 villagers.
Haimbanga Mufenda a cuca-shop owner at Kamupupu says the problem started when the borehole that supplies ground water stopped being operational.
The problem was reported to the responsible office in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, he says, but the department is yet to follow up the matter and take corrective action to restore water at Kamupupu.
“We have reported this many times but nothing has been done. How do they expect us to survive without water? This should be treated as an emergency ,” said a perturbed Mufenda.
The nearest source of water, besides the broken borehole, is a waterhole more than 10 km south of Kamupupu but it is risky as wild animals such as elephant, cheetah and other wild beasts use it.
The water at the waterhole deep in the bush consists of muddy, dirty water because elephants and other animals also take their baths there, rendering the water unfit for human consumption.
“It is really not fair that we are abandoned like this for such a long time … it’s unacceptable, we are always sick because of that water and the clinics are far,” said a villager who requested anonymity.
The water shortage has also affected a junior primary school in the area that normally provides porridge to poor and vulnerable kids, but this has stopped because there is no water to make porridge.
When New Era visited the offices of the Rural Water Supply Directorate in Rundu some of the fficials confirmed the plight of Kamupupu villagers.
“We have received the report and we will go there today or tomorrow to go and see what the problem may be,” said Lucas Neromba, senior artisan at the Rural Water Supply Directorate.
by John Muyamba