Minister Babalanda Leads SDA Cleaning Exercise in Iganga, Day After National Cleaning Day

What the report says

IGANGA, Uganda — Watchdog Uganda reports that Minister for the Presidency Babirye Milly Babalanda led a large Seventh-day Adventist cleaning exercise in Iganga Municipality after the government’s National Cleaning Day had been held the previous day. The article says the SDA faithful did not take part on Saturday because it is their worship day, and that they instead observed the exercise on Sunday in line with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s guidance to move their cleaning day to the last Sunday of the month.

The event brought together local leaders, residents, and staff from the Uganda Aids Commission. According to the report, participants swept streets, collected garbage, and opened drainage channels. Babalanda, who also serves as MP for Budiope West and director for SDA Busoga Women Field, thanked the President and Cabinet for supporting the National Cleaning Day initiative and said cleanliness supports health, community transformation, and development.

The minister also used the occasion to express condolences to President Museveni, First Lady Janet Museveni, and the Tooro kingdom following the death of Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. The report says she noted that an official burial and a three-day half-mast period had been directed. It also says she urged action against land grabbing in Iganga, directing the district RDC to work with anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.

The report frames the exercise as a sign of government accommodation of religious practice while promoting sanitation. More broadly, Uganda has periodically used public cleaning campaigns as part of civic health and environmental awareness efforts.