MWANZA: A TOTAL of 20.9bn/- has been allocated to Mwanza Region by the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) for the construction of 56 new and on-going rural water projects.
This was announced on Friday in Mwanza by RUWASA Regional Manager, Engineer Godfrey Sanga, who highlighted the government’s efforts to address water challenges in rural areas.
As of December, this year, the region had received 3.4bn/- to settle contractor debts related to rural water projects. Eng. Sanga said that the agency was planning to implement nine major water projects across five districts in Mwanza.
The projects, announced in the 2024/25 financial year, will be carried out in the following districts: Kwimba (three projects), Magu (one project), Misungwi (one project), Sengerema (two projects) and Ukerewe (two projects).
Engineer Sanga reported that four projects, worth 1.42bn/- , have already been completed (three in Kwimba and one in Magu), with contracts signed and construction already underway. Additionally, five other projects, worth 1.3bn/- are in various stages of completion across Misungwi, Sengerema and Ukerewe districts, with two projects in each district.
Once these projects are completed, RUWASA will be able to provide water services to 905,091 people, which represents 14.4 per cent of the rural population. This increase will raise rural water service coverage in Mwanza region from the current 71.6 per cent to 86 per cent by December 2025.
In another development, Eng Sanga explained that the government, through the Ministry of Water, has allocated 2.4bn/- in the 2023/24 financial year for drilling 40 boreholes across eight constituencies in Mwanza region. “The goal of this borehole drilling programme is to provide clean and safe water to villages that have never had access to such services,” he explained.
He added that Mwanza region has already received 1.91bn/-, of which 1.5bn/- had been used for groundwater exploration, borehole drilling and testing water quantity and quality.
RUWASA’s strategy aims to improve water access in underserved villages by drilling five boreholes in each constituency, with the programme expected to be completed by the 2024/25 financial year.
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Eng Sanga also noted that the water service improvements were part of the second phase of the Water Sector Development Programme. Since the establishment of RUWASA in July 2019, rural water service coverage in Mwanza has increased from 19 percent to 71.6 percent by 2023, representing an average annual growth of 2.6 percent.
He urged people to protect the infrastructure of these projects and avoid vandalism, as damage to water facilities incurs significant costs.
“My appeal to the public is to safeguard all constructed water projects and avoid vandalising the infrastructure,” he added.
