National Cleaning Day: Kampala records low turnout

What the report says

Kampala saw low public turnout for Saturday’s National Cleaning Day, according to The Independent Uganda. The monthly sanitation exercise was carried out in several parts of the city, with Kampala Capital City Authority focusing its main activity in Kabaawo Zone, Mutundwe Parish in Lubaga Division. KCCA teams were reported to have gone door to door in some communities to encourage residents to join after only a small number initially appeared.

The Independent Uganda reported that KCCA Deputy Executive Director Benon Kigenyi led the exercise in Kabaawo and urged residents to take more responsibility for cleanliness, avoid littering and sort waste at household level. Officials and local leaders also pointed to blocked drainage channels, poor sanitation around homes and limited waste collection access in some neighborhoods as ongoing problems. Mutundwe Parish Woman Councillor Fatuma Nyombi called for better drainage infrastructure, while Kabaawo LC1 chairperson Richard Ssendikaddiwa cited poor physical planning, difficult road access for garbage trucks and a lack of public toilet and cesspool services.

The report said weak participation was also observed in other parts of Kampala, including Lugala, Masanafu, Munaku, Kawempe and along the Northern Bypass. It came as the government continues to promote the last-Saturday-of-the-month cleaning campaign as a way to improve sanitation, reduce disease risks and encourage shared responsibility. The continued presence of garbage piles and blocked drains underlines the broader waste-management challenges facing the capital.