Acute water shortage hits Old Tafo in Kumasi

Residents of Old Tafo in Kumasi are grappling with acute water shortage which has persisted for over two weeks.

There is pressure on the few wells in the area as the situation worsens by the day with private water suppliers cash in on it.

People, mostly women and children, rush to the nearest water supply site to buy a bucket or two for domestic and commercial use.

Long queues, amid hot verbal exchanges among desperate persons looking for the essential commodity, especially, after a hard day’s work.

Even sellers like Lydia Osei have no reason to smile. She has been selling water for close to twenty years. But today, Lydia has to also join hundreds of people to search for water.

Many water vendors like Madam Lydia have stranded at one joint or the other, abandoning their various empty barrels and gallons at the mercy of the weather on a hunt for commodity.

The situation has now become a lucrative business for some tanker service operators. A full tanker cost 300 cedis.

The struggle continues into the night as children especially children join their mothers to compete with others for water.

Some of them say, they have either missed schools or reported late due to the water scarcity.

This is the first time in many years that community faces such a shortage. It is unclear what is causing the severe water problem as we could not establish contact with Ghana Water Company.

The question residents are asking is when their suffering will end or at least ease.