The Directorate of Water Supply within the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform plans to drill a hundred more boreholes across the country in this financial year.

Dr. Elijah Ngurare, the Deputy Executive Director for Water Supply and Sanitation Coordination, however, shared his frustration about people stealing water pumps and literally reversing government achievements.

Many communities have been and are still struggling to access potable water.

Some still travel long distances on foot, and those who own one or two donkeys are better off, but that is until they too give in.

Part of the mandate of the Water Supply and Sanitation Coordination Directorate is to drill, install, and rehabilitate boreholes across the country and supply water to rural communities as well as resettlement farms.

The directorate delivered 100 boreholes in the last financial year and plans to drill the same number this year.

This includes the modernization of traditional wells, according to Dr. Ngurare.

They say seeing is believing, and beneficiaries would witness the drilling of boreholes in their areas and have the first sip at last.

It is a rescue plan that can go a long way. But there is a hurdle: Dr. Ngurare calls it theft-preneurship because of the scrap value attached to it.

The theft of water pumps is now widespread, which not only reverses government gains but also deprives people of a very basic human need.

The villages of Sharukwe and Sikali in Kavango West's Ncuncuni Constituency faced a water crisis after thieves vandalised and stole solar borehole pumps.

"While it is an understandable preposition that we as a ministry or department should safeguard this water infrastructure, it is also true that the users and beneficiaries should bear the number one custodianship of providing security for these water infrastructures. And equally, society at large has a responsibility to look after this important government property."

When a water pump is stolen, this has an impact on healthcare service delivery and interrupts education and other critical development services.

It is a syndicate, theft-preneurship, or whatever one calls it, but for sure, it is an act that derails and deprives citizens of quality life.