Wulensi: Water crisis threatens marriages, education and community cohesion

A worsening water crisis in the Wulensi District of the Northern Region is straining social harmony, destabilising families, and undermining progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which aims to ensure access to clean water and sanitation for all.

Three neighbouring communities—Nyankpani, Yadodo, and Wumbeijado—are now reliant on a single functioning borehole following the breakdown of the area’s only other water source. This overdependence is fuelling rising tensions, particularly among women, who spend hours queuing at dawn to fetch water for their households. The pressure on this lone borehole has triggered communal conflicts, strained marriages, disrupted children’s education, and reduced productivity across the affected communities.

The breakdown has also forced many women to resort to fetching water from unprotected and polluted wells near a stream, often staying overnight to secure enough for their families—raising serious concerns about water contamination and public health risks.

Women are bearing the brunt of the crisis. Their daily struggle for water is taking a toll on their livelihoods, especially in farming, which remains the primary source of income for many households.

“This situation is unbearable,” a distressed woman told Graphic Online’s Simon Unyan during a visit to the communities.

“We wake up at 3 a.m. just to get water. The long queues lead to fights because everyone is desperate. By the time we get home, we’re exhausted. How do we find time for our families or enjoy our marriages?”

Youth activist Gurunja Abdul Aziz Unkpi highlighted the impact on marital stability and family life.

“Men are struggling to find spouses because women from other areas are unwilling to endure this hardship,” he explained. “It’s tearing families apart and deepening an already dire situation.”

Children’s education is also affected. Many students either arrive late to school or miss classes entirely because they have to help fetch water in the mornings.

Meanwhile, frequent disputes at the borehole are fracturing relationships within the communities. Women, who are often central to these conflicts, are experiencing both emotional and physical strain due to the ongoing crisis.

Community members are, therefore, making urgent appeals for intervention. They are calling on the government, NGOs, and development partners to fix the broken borehole and invest in additional water infrastructure.

“The government must listen to us,” a local farmer pleaded. “If they can repair the borehole or provide a mechanised water system, it will reduce the pressure and allow us to focus on our livelihoods.”