Water shortage forces Kpane residents to share river with animals

Water shortage has forced residents of Kpane, a community in the Sagnerigu Municipality of the Northern Region to share the same source of water they drink with animals.

On a visit to the community on Friday, March 18 by GhanaWeb, the residents (women), were seen fetching water from the same source used by animals, for cooking and drinking

Some of the residents who spoke to GhanaWeb lamented that the community has a tap but for many weeks now, it’s not been flowing thereby forcing them to depend on the river used by animals

“This is the water we use for cooking, drinking, and washing of our things. For many weeks now, our taps are not flowing,” a resident said.

“We are going to cook food with this water, when we get home, we have to purify it before we can use it,” another woman told GhanaWeb.

They said residents who refuse to drink from the river either go to Kasalgu or other nearby villages to fetch their water, making life very difficult.

They, therefore, appealed to the government to provide them with potable water

Kpane is a farming community in the Sagnerigu municipality.

The community is faced with many challenges, including a lack of water, roads, and health facilities.

The community was one of the many beneficiaries of the ‘One -Village, One-Dam’ policy by the NPP government, however, water in the dam was not sufficient for drinking, talk less for farming.

The assemblyman for the Sagnerigu electoral area, Mr. Issah Baba, in an interview with GhanaWeb, said the dam was poorly constructed.

He said the dam was to cater for dry season farming and also serve as a source of drinking water for many communities in the municipality but because it was poorly constructed, it could not serve its purpose.

He added that it is sad that a community that is just a hand throw away from the business city of Tamale and the municipal capital (Sagnerigu), shares water with animals and pleaded with the government to do something urgently to salvage the situation.

“We feel that it is unfair because Ghana in the 21st century, look at the water people drink? This is a community very close to Tamale, so we should all bow down our heads in shame,” he said.

“I wish to appeal to the government and the member of Parliament for the area to do something about it,” he added.