How water woes pushed Rundu man into crocodile’s jaws
Crocodile attack survivor John Nashirere details how his personal socio-economic circumstances and a failure of leadership almost cost him his life.
KENYA KAMBOWE
RUNDU
A cocktail of socio-economic challenges, headlined by unemployment and lack of potable water at his house in Rundu’s Ndama location, pushed John Komba Nashirere (29) to the edge of the valley of death last week.
With youth unemployment expected to hit 50.30% by end of this year, Nashirere is among the casualties.
On the exact day – Friday last week - that the Rundu town council implemented a system of water rationing due to its mounting bill with national water utility NamWater, Nashirere and many others turned to the nearby Kavango River for salvation.
While some may have gone to the river because their taps at home had run dry, for Nashirere this is his daily routine in recent months.
The father of three has no water connection at home and his informal settlement, Ndama, has no communal taps. In Ndama, if you do not have a tap at home, you are on your own.
He says he would need at least N$5 000 to acquire materials such as pipes in order for his house to be considered for water connection by the town council. That amount of money, for a jobless man like Nashirere, is a pipedream.
The only time that Nashirere and his family could access potable water was when neighbours allowed him to draw water from their taps.
But a two-fold challenge surfaced. One, Rundu is consistently without water due to the council’s mounting debt with NamWater and, two, neighbours with tap water have stopped sharing with Nashirere, due to their own debt challenge with the town council.
The local authority’s failure to provide water – a basic need – for all its residents, even by means of a community tap, means Nashirere and others in his situation solely rely on the crocodile-infested Kavango River for contaminated water.
The contaminated water is used for household needs, including boiling some for drinking.
Communal taps are deemed cheaper as residents may share the cost among themselves.
The attack
As to what happened on the day of the attack, Nashirere said he travelled with two others to the river to fill their containers with water.
It was in the evening around 19:00 when he was attacked by the crocodile, which bit him in the right thigh and left him with injuries to his legs.
“I feel much better. I can even walk now,” Nashirere said on Wednesday.
He has urged those who continue to fetch water at the river to be vigilant and always go there early and not late.
He also called on the local authority to deal with its water issues to prevent incidents such as what happened to him.
Meanwhile, for what he went through, the environment and tourism ministry indicated that Nashirere will be compensated with N$10 000 as per the National Human Wildlife Conflict Policy.
Ministry staff will be monitoring the situation and if spotted, the crocodile will be put down as it is now regarded as a problem animal.
Not paying residents
The Rundu Town Council, which is on a pre-paid water system, buys units from NamWater in order to supply residents. But water disruptions are the order of the day. Recently, the town was without water and electricity for five days – although the power cut was blamed on a technical fault.
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RUNDU
A cocktail of socio-economic challenges, headlined by unemployment and lack of potable water at his house in Rundu’s Ndama location, pushed John Komba Nashirere (29) to the edge of the valley of death last week.
With youth unemployment expected to hit 50.30% by end of this year, Nashirere is among the casualties.
On the exact day – Friday last week - that the Rundu town council implemented a system of water rationing due to its mounting bill with national water utility NamWater, Nashirere and many others turned to the nearby Kavango River for salvation.
While some may have gone to the river because their taps at home had run dry, for Nashirere this is his daily routine in recent months.
The father of three has no water connection at home and his informal settlement, Ndama, has no communal taps. In Ndama, if you do not have a tap at home, you are on your own.
He says he would need at least N$5 000 to acquire materials such as pipes in order for his house to be considered for water connection by the town council. That amount of money, for a jobless man like Nashirere, is a pipedream.
The only time that Nashirere and his family could access potable water was when neighbours allowed him to draw water from their taps.
But a two-fold challenge surfaced. One, Rundu is consistently without water due to the council’s mounting debt with NamWater and, two, neighbours with tap water have stopped sharing with Nashirere, due to their own debt challenge with the town council.
The local authority’s failure to provide water – a basic need – for all its residents, even by means of a community tap, means Nashirere and others in his situation solely rely on the crocodile-infested Kavango River for contaminated water.
The contaminated water is used for household needs, including boiling some for drinking.
Communal taps are deemed cheaper as residents may share the cost among themselves.
The attack
As to what happened on the day of the attack, Nashirere said he travelled with two others to the river to fill their containers with water.
It was in the evening around 19:00 when he was attacked by the crocodile, which bit him in the right thigh and left him with injuries to his legs.
“I feel much better. I can even walk now,” Nashirere said on Wednesday.
He has urged those who continue to fetch water at the river to be vigilant and always go there early and not late.
He also called on the local authority to deal with its water issues to prevent incidents such as what happened to him.
Meanwhile, for what he went through, the environment and tourism ministry indicated that Nashirere will be compensated with N$10 000 as per the National Human Wildlife Conflict Policy.
Ministry staff will be monitoring the situation and if spotted, the crocodile will be put down as it is now regarded as a problem animal.
Not paying residents
The Rundu Town Council, which is on a pre-paid water system, buys units from NamWater in order to supply residents. But water disruptions are the order of the day. Recently, the town was without water and electricity for five days – although the power cut was blamed on a technical fault.
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