By Nasser Kasozi Akandwanaho
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has asked Parliament to support for their request for Shillings 421.9 billion to facilitate the expansion of water supply to households in the Kampala Metropolitan Area.
Engineer Silver Mugisha, the NWSC Managing Director, made the request in a meeting with Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, during his monitoring visit to the Katosi Water Treatment Plant. In April 2011, Parliament approved two loan requests, one for Euros 150 million and another for Euros 150 million Shillings, for the Katosi Water Works (KWW) project.
KWW is located in Katosi Town on the shores of Lake Victoria in Ntenjeru Sub-County, Mukono District.Eng. Mugisha explained that the KWW facility currently produces approximately 100,000 cubic meters of water per day, in contrast to the Ggaba Treatment Centre, which produces between 230,000 and 240,000 cubic meters, totaling 340,000 cubic meters of water per day.
To expand the water distribution networks and meet the demand for water supply in the Kampala Metropolitan Area, which includes Kampala City, Mukono, and Wakiso Districts, Eng. Mugisha revealed that the Corporation requires an additional Euros 105 million, approximately 421.902 billion Shillings.
He pointed out that only 52 percent of the Katosi Water Treatment Plant’s capacity is being utilized due to limited distribution networks. The plant produces 70 million liters of water per day, falling short of its installed reservoir capacity of 160 million liters.
Tayebwa emphasized that the underutilization of the facility is hindering potential revenue for NWSC, and urged management to expedite the necessary paperwork for approval by Cabinet before Parliament gives its consent.
The construction of the Katosi Water Treatment and Distribution project commenced in 2019 and was completed in 2021. The plant was primarily established to meet the growing water demands of the rapidly expanding population of the Kampala Metropolitan Area, estimated to be 3.846 million people.
The facility has a treatment capacity of 160 million liters, with plans to increase it by an additional 80 million liters by 2035. Water flows to the reservoir by gravity, and the overall installed capacity is 240 million liters per day. On October 14, NWSC will be accepting bids from service providers for the construction of a 15 million liters water reservoir on Kanyanya Hill.
Once completed, the facility will supply water to a booster station at Kabulenga Hill in Wakiso District and to networks serving areas along Gayaza Road, Matugga, and Kawempe, among others. The Katosi Water Treatment Plant was jointly funded by the Government of Uganda, KfW of Germany, the European Investment Bank, the French Development Agency, and the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund under the Kampala Water Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Project (WATSAN).
The project had a total cost of Euros 84 million, approximately 852.5 billion Shillings.
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