Bong: Managbolor Residents Drink From Open Well as Lone Hand Pump Runs Dry

Published: November 2, 2026

MANAGBOLOR, Bong County — Residents of Managbolor are drinking from an open well that floods with runoff in the rainy season, and their town chief says the water has sickened children and killed some residents because the town’s only hand pump cannot keep up with demand.

Town Chief John Kolleh said the pump, installed decades ago by a humanitarian organization, often runs dry after a few people have fetched water, especially in the dry season. The town in Bong County’s Electoral District 1 has more than 800 people, he said.

“The only problem we can get when we drink the water is running stomach. It can affect especially the children. Some people have died here from running stomach, but we can’t stop drinking the water because we have no option,” Kolleh said in an interview over the weekend.

He said the community dug the well to ease pressure on the hand pump, but it brings its own danger.

“The pump runs dry quickly, especially during the dry season, because there are plenty of us. We have to go to the well you saw down the town. When rain falls, erosion can enter the water, making it look dirty and unsafe,” he said.

Kolleh said residents keep falling ill with diarrhea, and women and children are among those affected. Some sick residents have been taken to Gbarnga for treatment, he said. He did not say how many people have died or when.

Residents understand the risk but have nowhere else to get drinking water, Kolleh said.

He appealed to the district’s representative, Prince Koinah, and to other well-meaning people to build more hand pumps.

“We will feel fine if they construct additional hand pumps for us. We even want 50 hand pumps to make the sickness go far away from us,” Kolleh said.