Choi
Drought-stricken residents of Choi in Kongola in the Zambezi Region have appealed to government to quicken the construction of the second phase of the water treatment plant, pump station, bulk pipeline and reservoirs currently under construction as part of the Katima Mulilo-Kongola Rural Water Supply project.
Choi inhabitants have lamented the fact their cattle die after they get stuck in puddles of muddy water at the nearby stream that has dried up, because of successive droughts that have affected Choi settlement – located near the tribal headquarters of Chief Joseph Tembwe Mayuni of the Mashi Traditional Authority.
Richard Limbindo, a community activist from Choi, says the government should rehabilitate the sole manual water-pump, which previously served hundreds of residents. Its water output has been reduced to mere drips, as the pump now seems depleted as a result of supplying too many residents, including nearby schools.
Cattle belonging to the inhabitants of Choi are herded 10 to 15 kilometres every day in search of water.
To elaborate on the seriousness of the situation, Limbindo points out that often women and children have to wait in queues for hours on end, because the manual hand pump takes very long to fill up a single 25-litre container of water for household use. This compels the women to sacrifice their time and neglect other equally important chores.
Boreholes and hand-pumps – built during colonial rule over 25 years ago – are said to have dried up and the only functional hand pump is the one at Induna Jameson Likezo Mapulanga’s village that caters for fifteen other villages, including Nkwazi, Tembwe, Sabelo, Kandiana, Likezo, Kangondo, Patama, Mukubesa, Muyuna, Maunga Two and Maunga Four. Other villages that rely on the manual water pump at Induna Mapulanga’s village include Namulimbwa and Bede.
Apart from getting stuck in the mud, cattle at Choi are also prone to crocodile attacks. In recent months villagers said at least eight of their cattle were caught and killed by crocodiles that are said to be numerous at the nearby Kwando-Mashi River.
Limbindo suggests the best alternative to complement the water-pipeline extension project would be to install windmill-powered water boreholes.
Induna Mapulanga reiterated Limbindo’s sentiments, saying Choi suffers from a water crisis – despite being located in the vicinity of the perennial Kwando-Mashi River.
“In this area of Choi we do not have adequate water for our residents and I believe there is no area that has such a terrible water crisis like Choi,” Induna Mapulanga told New Era on Friday. “Colonial-era boreholes at Nakati also dried up, further compounding the water crisis,” the induna said. He also lamented the fact that Choi residents frequently endure livestock losses from crocodile attacks.
Community member Musomi Poniso Starden confirmed that too many villages at Choi have to rely on a single borehole that also supplies water to the school hostel and clinic in the area. “The water at the school is very dirty and simply unfit for human consumption,” he noted.