DC: POLITICIANS SHOULD NOT INTERFERES IN THE EXPERTS WORK

DC making a keynote speech

Energizing

Group photo of participants

Group discussion in progress

One of the water users association (WUA) member making a presentation

By Friday Simbaya, Njombe

The District Commissioner of Wanging'ombe in Njombe Region, Frederick Mwakalebela has appealed to politicians not to interfere with the work of experts in their planning, for instance, in allocating permits of water resources.

He said that there are some politicians who hinder the activities of the professionals by using their positions to disrupt their planning of allocating water permits to water users.

Mwakalebela made the request during the just ended two-day workshop which was dubbed as working and learn together (WALT) on the implementation of Sustainable Water Access, Use and Management (SWAUM), a program jointly facilitated by the Rufiji Basin Water Office and the WWF Ruaha Water Program team held in Njombe Region.

He said that politicians often been interfering with the work of the experts by forcing them to disperse water permits to users by using their influence that leads to divert management plans for sustainable water resources in the basin.

The workshop involved various stakeholders including executive directors of the district councils of Iringa, Mbarali, Wanging'ombe, Makete and Mufindi, Rufiji Basin Water Officer, representatives of government institutions, planning officers of district councils and also the district facilitating teams (DFTs).

Other stakeholders who participated in the workshop were representatives of water users associations (WUAs), Robert Smith and Mike Morris who were development partners from WWF UK.

However, the aim of the workshop was to implement the concept of stakeholder involvement in the management and development of water resources, which is based on the second principle among the four principles of joint management of water resources.

In addition, WWF Tanzania through the Ruaha Freshwater Program (WWF-RWP) and the Office of the water basin of the Rufiji (RBWO) for the past two years have implemented the Sustainable Water Access, Use and Management (SWAUM).

The program was jointly facilitated by the Rufiji Basin Water Office and the WWF Ruaha Water Programme team in the Ndembela and Mbarali rivers sub-catchment areas.

During the implementation of this program stakeholders were involved in raising operations management of water resources under the supervision of the office of the Rufiji Basin Water and WWF Ruaha Water Program.

According to the WWF Tanzania Office Coordinator for Freshwater Program, Kelvin Robert, in the project areas were able to identify the challenges facing the integrated management of water resources that caused the drying up of the Great Ruaha river which included large consumption of water in the basin, water consumption in large and small farms, livestock and increased in demand for water.

Other challenges include unsustainable land use, deforestation, agriculture and lack of integrating climate change adaption.

For his part, Rufiji Basin Water Officer, Idris Msuya said that despite the existence of these challenges causing the drying up of the Great Ruaha River (GRR) whose waters contributed by Ndembera and Mbarali rivers, the program has been able to strategically tackle challenges such as adherence to standards water distribution as defined in water use permits.

He added that obedience to the law of water resources, strengthening of management of water and land resources, stakeholder participation and mobilization of sectoral cooperation of stakeholders was the only remedy to improve integrated water resource management development program (IWRMDP).

However, Coordinator Ruaha Water Program, Mturi James Mturi of WWF Tanzania Iringa Office Freshwater Program said lack good water governance was one of hindrances in the implementation of the Sustainable Water Access, Use and Management (SWAUM) program.

“Water governance refers to the processes, systems, and institutional arrangements for decision making on the use, development, and management of water resources and the delivery of water services to different levels of society,” he quoted. 

Mturi pointed out that during the implementation of SWAUM program it was discovered that there was an uncoordinated responsibility among stakeholders which leads to governance failure in the integrated water management resource for past few years.

He said that there were no coordinated efforts in the decision making on the use, development, and management of water resources and the delivery of water services to different levels of society. 

“It is also concerned with the normative underpinnings of the efforts to manage water (principles, policies, laws, and standards); the clarification of the roles of government, civil society, and the private sector in the management and administration of water, “he elaborated.