Many residents of Kabale Municipality resorted to burning garbage after authorities failed to provide garbage trucks to collect waste during the launch of the Mandatory National Cleaning Day.
The nationwide exercise, announced by the government, will now be observed on the last Saturday of every month, beginning July 25, 2026.
In Kabale Municipality, security personnel, including officers from the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), were deployed to enforce compliance and restrict unnecessary traffic movement during the three-hour cleaning exercise. Residents thus had to endure the chocking smoke from the burning garbage.
Residents had largely embraced the initiative, with many seen sweeping the areas where they live and operate businesses. However, by around 10:00 a.m., many had begun burning the collected garbage after waiting in vain for municipal garbage trucks to pick it up.
Our reporter observed piles of garbage being burnt in Bugongi, Northern Division, and along Kabale Main Street in Central Division. Owen Ayebazibwe, a resident of Bugongi, says he willingly participated in the mandatory cleaning exercise because he values a clean environment. However, he says he was forced to burn the garbage after waiting unsuccessfully for a municipal garbage truck to collect it.
Ayebazibwe says he had no alternative but to dispose of the waste by burning it.
Precious Ayebare, another resident who was found burning garbage at Esso Stage along Kabale Main Street, says she expected Kabale Municipal Council garbage trucks to be actively collecting waste during the exercise. She said when no truck arrived, she also opted to burn the garbage.
Emmanuel Sentaro Byamugisha, the Mayor of Kabale Municipality, says the municipal garbage trucks did not collect waste because the existing dumping site at Kirengyere in Kyanamira Sub-county has reached full capacity.
Byamugisha says the municipality has already acquired five acres of land at Kabaraga Hill, about 10 kilometres from Kabale Municipality, where a new garbage disposal site will be established to address the challenge.-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
