Kampala, Uganda | URN | The government plans to enforce waste sorting at source across the country as part of efforts to improve waste management, reduce poor disposal practices and promote recycling. Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said households, institutions and large organisations will be expected to separate waste at the point of disposal, with local governments tasked with promoting the practice within communities.
Nabbanja made the remarks during the second National Cleaning Day held at Kyaliwajjala UMEA Primary School in Kira Division. She urged local governments to work with waste collectors to establish separate collection routines for organic and inorganic waste instead of mixing the different categories in the same garbage trucks.
Nabbanja said waste sorting could also create employment opportunities by enabling the recycling of inorganic waste into different products. To strengthen enforcement, she proposed empowering government committees to ensure compliance with waste-sorting regulations at the community level. Under the proposed system, people would not be allowed to dispose of unsorted waste.
Nabbanja also urged Ugandans to stop dumping garbage in drainage channels and along roads, saying cleanliness should be treated as a daily responsibility rather than an activity reserved for National Cleaning Day. She called on communities to use designated waste disposal facilities and keep roads, markets, homes and other public spaces clean.
Vice President Jessica Alupo, who was the guest of honour, said waste should not simply be viewed as something to be discarded but as a potential source of income. Alupo said the government would continue equipping local governments with modern garbage collection trucks and other equipment to improve waste collection across the country.
She also urged private waste collectors to invest in modern and durable garbage collection trucks and equipment. Alupo called on Ugandans to take ownership of the National Cleaning Day initiative and maintain cleanliness beyond the designated cleaning days. She also clarified that members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church had been exempted from participating in Saturday cleaning activities following consultations, because Saturday is their day of worship.
She said members of the church would instead participate in the exercise on Sunday. Alupo added that the government was still developing guidelines for the National Cleaning Day, which will specify the categories of people who will be exempted from participating in the exercise. Wakiso District Chairperson Ian Kyeyune said the district was facing growing waste-management challenges due to its rapidly increasing population and the large volumes of garbage generated from households and markets.
Kyeyune said Wakiso had embraced public-private partnerships with private concessionaires as part of efforts to improve waste collection and disposal. Kira Municipality Mayor Alan Bulamu described solid waste management as a major challenge in the municipality and appealed to the government to provide modern garbage collection trucks to cope with the increasing volumes of waste.
Bulamu also used the occasion to raise concerns over the lack of a government secondary school in Kira Division. The third National Cleaning Day will be held in Hoima City.
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