Residents of Napumpum Sub County in Kotido have unanimously resolved to stop any economic activities on Kaeselem dam to spare it exclusively to being a source of water for cattle.
The dam located in Lolito parish had lately attracted a number of fishermen from within and without, raising concerns from a section of cattle keepers that the fishermen were instead inconveniencing cattle from drinking clean water when they fish in the dam.
The conflict pitted fishermen and cattle keepers in an incident that threatened to turn bloody as the row involved use of bows and arrows.
Now, a resolution made Thursday at Napumpum Trading Centre to resolve the impasse has outlawed any other economic activity such as fishing in the dam until the animals have been moved out of the area when dam dries.
A number of herdsmen accused the fishermen of spoiling the water to the extent that cattle fail to take from the same source.
Lochoro Apalomuret and Lotee Nameribok urge that Kotido is currently experiencing a water crisis for production and there is need to use the water in the valley dams sparingly for cattle.
The Napumpum LC 3 Chairperson, Ibrahim Lodiny Amin is appealing Kotido district authorities to dig more dams such that there is enough water for animals.
But the Kotido District Production Officer Robert Kennedy Okuda says government is due to de-silt two dams in Kotido this financial year to increase availability of water for production. He also said the government is currently through Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries is building Sinat Dam on top of the 44 valley dams across the district.
