Speaker Oboth Praises Nakiyi as MP Pushes for Overhaul of Outdated Gravity Water Schemes

Budadiri East Member of Parliament, Hon. Eng. Julius Nakiyi, has called on the Ministry of Water and Environment to undertake a nationwide technical review and upgrade of old gravity flow water schemes to ensure they can meet the growing water demands of Uganda’s expanding population.https://youtube.com/shorts/doyLjfGACHM?si=-nt_7XKekjjLIwL2

Nakiyi made the call on the floor of Parliament during Wednesday’s plenary session, where he used his professional background as a civil engineer to explain the technical challenges affecting water supply systems whose original designs were developed decades ago.

According to Nakiyi, the design of a water supply system must be guided by two critical factors—population and per capita water consumption—which together determine the volume of water required and consequently influence the design of key infrastructure such as storage tanks, pipes and distribution networks.

“For purposes of this presentation, I will speak as a civil engineer,” Nakiyi told Parliament.

He explained that engineers use projected population and consumption levels to determine the volume of water a system should be designed to handle, as well as the appropriate pipe sizes, gradients, velocities and storage capacity.

Nakiyi warned that some gravity flow schemes across the country were designed more than two decades ago, when the populations they were intended to serve were significantly smaller.

He cited Sironko District as an example, noting that the water system in the area was designed in the 1990s when the population was around 150,000, but that the population has since grown to more than 300,000.

He argued that the increase in population has created a substantial gap between the capacity for which the system was originally designed and the current demand.

“It means the volume cannot sustain, the current volume cannot match the demand,” Nakiyi said.

Calls for nationwide technical assessment

Nakiyi urged the Ministry of Water and Environment to deploy its civil engineers across the country to assess gravity flow schemes that were designed and constructed more than 20 years ago.

He said such an assessment would enable the ministry to establish which systems have exceeded their intended useful life and require rehabilitation or complete upgrading.

“The useful life of a gravity flow scheme according to their ministry guidelines is 20 years. Now if it has exceeded 20 years, it means already it is fully depreciated,” he told Parliament.

Nakiyi linked the age of the infrastructure to the increasing maintenance challenges faced by communities and local leaders responsible for supporting the operation of the schemes.

He said MPs are frequently confronted with complaints about broken pipes and other failures in ageing water systems, resulting in recurring maintenance costs.

“That’s why MPs are suffering with the maintenance costs,” he said, adding that frequent breakdowns were partly attributable to infrastructure reaching or exceeding its expected useful life.

Need to plan for future population growth

Beyond repairing ageing infrastructure, Nakiyi called for a shift in the way water systems are designed, arguing that engineers should not only consider the population being served today but also anticipate future population growth.

He cautioned that designing a system solely for the current population could result in the same capacity challenges emerging again within a few decades.

Nakiyi said engineers should incorporate population growth projections into the design process so that water infrastructure can serve both the current generation and future populations.

“If you design, for example, now for 300,000, by the time it is 20 years again the population has more than doubled,” he said.

He therefore urged the ministry to take future demographic changes into account when upgrading existing systems and planning new water infrastructure.

Speaker praises Nakiyi's contribution

Reacting to Nakiyi’s submission, Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Jacob Marksons Oboth described the contribution as helpful and praised the Budadiri East MP for effectively applying his technical expertise to the debate.

“That is very, very helpful,” Oboth said.

The Speaker also made a light-hearted reference to Nakiyi’s professional background, noting that the MP had demonstrated his engineering expertise during the debate. 

“And members, he’s an accountant, but he spoke like an engineer. He’s an engineer. You are both. So your future is bright,” Oboth said.

Oboth further praised the voters of Budadiri East for electing Nakiyi, saying: “I think the people of Budadiri made the right choice. And I’m not ashamed to say that.”

Nakiyi’s intervention places emphasis on the need for long-term planning and technical assessment of Uganda’s rural water infrastructure, particularly gravity flow schemes that have been in operation for several decades.

His proposal calls for the ministry to combine rehabilitation of ageing systems with forward-looking designs that factor in population growth, water consumption and the expected lifespan of infrastructure, with the aim of reducing recurring breakdowns and ensuring sustainable water supply for both present and future communities. *By John Kusolo*