John Fisher
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation’s (NWSC) recent unveiling of its 2024-2027 Corporate Plan, themed “Water and Sanitation for All,” marks a significant milestone in Uganda’s journey towards achieving universal access to clean water and sanitation.
The plan’s ambitious targets, including increasing the customer base to more than 1.1 million connections and improving non-revenue water performance, demonstrate NWSC’s commitment to addressing the challenges faced by the corporation and the nation at large. Already, the number of connections has grown from 366,200 in 2014 to 785,000 in 2021, with a target of 1,135,000 by 2027 and 1,565,383 by 2034.
The network length has expanded from 8,100km in 2014 to 19,300km in 2021, with a projected increase to 23,142 km by 2027 and 28,217km by 2034
The plan’s focus on supporting production and industrialisation, increasing water coverage, and promoting health and equity is aligned with the government’s National Development Plan (NDP-III) and proposed NDP IV (2025-2030). This synergy between NWSC’s corporate goals and national development objectives is crucial in ensuring that the corporation’s efforts contribute meaningfully to Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.
NWSC’s performance over the past decade has been impressive, with significant growth in key performance indicators such as population served, connections base, network length, assets, annual turnover, and budget cost coverage.
The population served has increased from 5 million in 2014 to 17.5 million in 2021, with a projected increase to 24 million by 2027 and 32 million by 2034.
The corporation’s ability to increase its asset base from Shs3.5 trillion to Shs4.5 trillion and grow its customer base from 785,000 to 950,000 connections in three years is a testament to its commitment to expanding services to more Ugandans.
However, despite this progress, NWSC still faces challenges such as water thefts, systemic meter inaccuracies, and water availability constraints.
The corporation has also identified key risk factors, including rapid urbanisation, technology changes, and climate change, and has formulated mitigation measures.
The corporation’s management is addressing these issues through collaboration with government agencies, better consumption measurement policies, and water production enhancement measures. The euro 93 million (about Shs371.6 billion) water distribution improvement project in Kampala and similar measures in other towns are commendable initiatives aimed at addressing water availability challenges.
In the same vein, Dr Badru M. Kiggundu, the corporation’s board chairman, has emphasised that the new plan addresses challenges faced by NWSC, including inadequate financing, non-revenue water, and climate change impacts, which will contribute to the government’s policy and strategic direction, and supporting the National Development Plan (NDP-III) and the proposed NDP IV (2025-2030).
Importantly, the plan has been submitted to the minister of Water and Environment after the expiry of the 2021-2024 Corporate Plan.
The government’s focus on water and sanitation for all, as acknowledged by NWSC’s Managing Director, Dr Silver Mugisha, has been instrumental in the corporation’s progress. It is essential that this support continues, and that NWSC receives the necessary resources to implement its ambitious plan.
Highlighting NWSC’s 10-year performance history and outlook, and key performance indicators such as population served, connections base, network length, assets, annual turnover, and budget cost coverage, Dr Mugisha promises that: “We expect to transform NWSC into a vibrant utility with robust financial and technical self-reliance capabilities”.
In a nutshell, the NWSC’s 2024-2027 Corporate Plan is a step in the right direction towards achieving universal access to water and sanitation in Uganda. The corporation’s commitment to expanding services to more Ugandans, improving efficiency, and promoting health and equity is commendable.
With continued government support and collaboration, NWSC can overcome the challenges it faces and achieve its ambitious targets, ultimately contributing to Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.
Mr John Fisher Sekabira is the Manager Marketing and Digital Communications at National Water and Sewerage Corporation.
