Lofa County faces severe water shortage, urges government action

Published: January 23, 2025

VOINJAMA — Towns and villages across Lofa County are grappling with an acute shortage of safe drinking water, as hand pumps in several communities have gone dry, leaving residents desperate for a solution.

Inhabitants of Boawohun, Gbenkpelahun, Kimbalahun, Helahun, and Gbelahun towns—all situated within the Gbandi Chiefdom in Wanhassa and Lukambeh districts—expressed frustration over the dire water crisis in separate interviews.

Boakai Kanneh, Clan Chief of Upper Lukasu Clan in the Gbandi Chiefdom, lamented the situation:
“My brother, we are really suffering here. Imagine waking up as early as 5:00 a.m. just to fetch a single bucket of water, but it’s a struggle. We have only one spoiled hand pump for the entire area. Because of this, hundreds of people end up fighting over water. We are pleading with the government to come to our aid.”

Kimbalahun Town Chief, Kangoma Sesay, echoed similar concerns, revealing that residents have been forced to drink from unsafe creeks due to the lack of functional hand pumps.
“Our pump is broken, and we have no safe creek to drink from. This happens every year. We are calling on the government to assist us because we lack the resources to construct or repair hand pumps. The hand pumps that NGOs installed have broken down, and we don’t have the money to fix them. That’s why we need the government’s intervention,” Sesay explained.

Each of these towns in the Gbandi Chiefdom has an estimated population of 2,000, with the entire chiefdom home to roughly 15,000 residents. All are currently struggling to access safe drinking water.

The water shortage is not confined to Gbandi Chiefdom. Reports of similar challenges have emerged from Voinjama District, Zorzor District, Quardu Bondi District, and other parts of Lofa County. Despite the scale of the crisis, neither local authorities nor NGOs have stepped in to address the problem.

Residents fear that the continued reliance on unsafe creeks and rivers could lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases. They are urgently appealing to the government and humanitarian organizations to provide immediate support to avert a potential public health crisis.