Almost all neighborhoods in the Karisimbi commune as well as the Himbi neighborhoods and the volcano in the Goma commune are affected by this lack of tap water from REGIDESO.

For the national deputy elected from Goma, Josué Mufula, "this dates back to the last eruption of Nyiragongo volcano in May 2021 whose lava damaged the piping in the city".

"The population is suffering greatly, which is why I am calling on the government to make efforts to find solutions to this piping problem. This Goma elected official acknowledges, however, the efforts of the national minister in charge of hydraulic resources, Olivier Mwenze, and the provincial director of REGIDESO while calling on them to commit resources to rehabilitate the pipes damaged by lava," he indicated to POLITICO.CD.

Several residents of the neighborhoods affected by this water shortage are forced to travel kilometers to obtain water, mostly from Lake Kivu. Water unsuitable for consumption, thus exposing themselves to water-borne diseases.

Yet in March 2021, the NGO Mercy Corps said it had handed over two reservoirs of 5,000 cubic meters each, 65 km of piping laid in the ground in Goma and Nyiragongo, and 94 water fountains constructed throughout the city of Goma and its surroundings.

This was with the objective of "providing drinking water to the population of Goma and Nyiragongo," a project called "IMAGINE" which had cost 36 million pounds sterling, or 49.68 million US dollars, mobilized through DRC-United Kingdom cooperation.

Several people, including provincial deputies, had denounced an embezzlement scheme at the level of Mercy Corps. According to Jean-Paul Lumbulumbu who had confided to POLITICO.CD, only one water fountain had been handed over to the Kasivita government at the time, and where water flowed with difficulty. To this day, there is no news of these fountains.

Merveilles Kiro