Uganda Security agencies seek alternative water sources as bills soar

The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has committed to clear the Defence Ministry utility arrears amounting to Shs36 billion owed to the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC).

“We got a confirmation from the Ministry of Finance and the arrears will be offset in a phased manner, for the next three financial years,” said Edith Butuuro, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.

Butuuro together with a team from the ministry was appearing before the joint committee on Natural resources and Finance, Planning and Economic Development on Wednesday, 12 February 2025.

The committees are receiving submissions on a petition from the NWSC over arrears totaling Shs101 billion owed by various government entities.

Butuuro revealed that the Ministry of Defence has started drilling wells, countrywide, as alternative water sources.

The Uganda Police Force and Uganda Prisons on the other hand were concerned that the finance ministry has not made a commitment to offset their arrears totaling Shs24.1 billion and Shs18.2 billion, respectively.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lt. Gen. Joseph Musanyufu said that this puts the security organs in a difficult position because the arrears continue to accumulate.

“This is in spite of the fact that with some certainty, we can determine how much water we are going to consume in a year. The challenge is the budget provision does not meet the required utilities of water,” he said.

The Under Secretary, Uganda Police Force, Aggrey Wunyi, said that just like the Defence Ministry, the Police Force has been pushed into investing in rain water harvesting and drilling wells.

“We are faced with a challenge where water is cut off in the barracks, especially where we have enrolled in pre-paid meters and this poses a risk to barracks dwellers,” said Wunyi.

He further called for countrywide enrollment of pre-paid meters in Police units, throughout the country, saying that this will partly reduce the case of recurrent arrears.

Tororo North County MP, Hon. Geofrey Ekanya said that while efforts are being made to clear the arrears, it is encouraging to know that the security bodies are considering the alternative water sources.

“Clearing the arrears should be the first call on the budget but you need to have solar powered wells,” he said.

Hon. Isaac Katenya (Indep., Bulambuli County) advised the security organs to consider utilising funds from their income generating projects to pay utilities.

Isingiro District Woman MP, Hon. Claire Mugumya however, blamed the recurrent arrears on failure by the security organs to prioritise.

“Even if we have budgetary shortfalls, you need to plan well and find ways to ensure monthly payments to NWSC because some of these entities have defaulted for 94 months,” said Mugumya.

The Chairperson of the Finance Committee, Hon. Amos Kankunda re-echoed the importance of addressing the issue, saying that it has far-reaching effects if left unaddressed.

“The National Water looks at you as defaulters, and yet you are government. So, what solution are you giving us,” said Kankunda.

NWSC petitioned Parliament, seeking to swap the corporation’s VAT obligation to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to settle the arrears owed by 36 government entities.