Kiti Zone, the Kampala you never see

Aug 08, 2012

For the next 12 weeks New Vision will devote space worth sh380m to highlight the plight of slum dwellers as well as profiles of those offering selfless service to improve conditions in these areas. Today DOREEN MURUNGI brings you the story of Kiti Zone, a slum in Katwe that gives the hidden side of

For the next 12 weeks New Vision will devote space worth sh380m to highlight the plight of slum dwellers as well as profiles of those offering selfless service to improve conditions in these areas. Today DOREEN MURUNGI brings you the story of Kiti Zone, a slum in Katwe that gives the hidden side of Kampala

As she walked past the lanes of Kiti Zone, a slum in Kampala central, Mary Najjemba, 26, could not help noticing the fleeting looks from a gang of young men sizing her up. The continuous momentary gazes and endless smiles made her feel like she was being stalked by a predator.

“It was around 7:40pm,” recalls Najjemba. “I thought I just was being paranoid, but the way they looked at me made me feel uncomfortable. I hurried only to encounter what I had feared most ahead of me. One of the men grabbed my bag and took off. My heart pounding I just ran towards the road. From that day, I have never taken that route again,” narrated Najjemba, a resident of Kibuye.

Najjemba’s case is not new to John Kalanzi, the youth chairperson of the zone. “Theft has been our biggest challenge. I do not know what we will do with thieves. It is too much. Even during the day they steal,” Kalanzi says.

He adds that you cannot leave your property unattended to and the authorities are not helping.  “We catch the thieves, take them to the authorities, but before you get home they have been released,” he adds.

Latifah Nakonge, a resident attributes the rampant increase in theft cases to the high unemployment level of the youth in the area.

“We try to push our children to at least Senior four, but even then, there is hardly carry work to do,” she says.

“Even the small jobs they find are not sufficient so they keep hopping from one job to the other. When it fails, some resort to theft,” Kalanzi explains as he walks us through the cramped shacks. The shacks are extremely close to each other with long, narrow and dirty alleys filled with the stench of open gutters and piles of garbage, flies and women carrying out conversations.

The illustrative gestures and deafening laughter makes me wonder if they are unaware of the unbearable combination of the filth, stench and flies.

I am taken away from this scene by the sounds coming from a different corner seemingly bustling with life.

It is the sound of children of various ages running, jumping and squealing with joy. A simple hallo attracts a battalion of them who when asked what issues are biting, respond in unison each trying to echo their grievance. The volume that comes out can only compare to an ensemble of numerous instruments playing off key.

Venomous statements had now replaced the smiling faces. “Tulina ekizibu kya’abo abalowoza ba bebeyi (we have a problem of those who think they are of high class),” Fatuma Namutebi, 8 grumbles. “I had never seen disposable diapers. I did not know what it is used for until I came across one thrown over to our side by those who think they are better than us,” Haruna Walugembe, another resident says.

“They also throw tins, we pick them to play and sometimes they have human waste,” Melissa Ndagire, 7 says.

“We are shut out like we do not exist, they are in their houses enjoying life, while our lives are at risk,” Willy Tabandeke says before adding that the residents themselves are dirty.

“People use polythene bags as toilets and throw them in the trenches.” He says before Walugembe interrupts him, “What do you expect? We resort to polythene bags after the pit latrines have blocked, they are not clean at all I feel like I am going to fall sick every time we do not have a dumping ground so we throw them in the trenches.”

Kalanzi adds his voice to the children’s: “The sewage channels are not far from our homes. When they fill up, they at times flow into our homes.”

Latif Muwonge, 10, says the waste also flows into the trenches yet young children play and at times drink the dirty water.

His revelation explains why several of the children say stomachache is one of the issues that disturb their wellbeing.

It is possible that many of these children have fallen victim to intestinal worms that according to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund infect about 10% of the population in developing countries, mostly children.

Depending upon the severity of the infection, worms can lead to malnutrition, anaemia and retarded growth.

Hadad Katanzi, the defence secretary says the lack of safe water was a major challenge in the slum. “We used to have a well with three passages, however when houses were built on the upper side, the openings of our well were joining with the sewage passage and it blocked because the water was mixing with sewage,” regretted Katanzi.

Although they have a better well with seemingly clean water, the surroundings plus the plastic sewage pipes resting closely to the well worry the residents.

“The waste that keeps piling in the drainage channel next to the well definitely mixes with the water when it rains because the drainage is blocked by the many things thrown in,” Hasfa Nabaale, a resident says. Kalanzi adds that the poor sanitation cannot convince him that their water is safe.

 

“When there is an outbreak of diseases like cholera, we suffer so much since many of our residents fall victim,” he says.

The local leaders also attribute the inability to see change to the ever-growing population.

“People here tend to have many children without putting into consideration the little space. You will find a very small structure with seven people,” Kalanz adds

Hassan Kiberu, the LC 2 chairperson of Kisenyi 3 parish, which the zone is under says they have tried time and again to sensitise the people but because they keep shifting and new people coming in it is hard to effect change.

For him the biggest problem remains flooding. The zone is surrounded by trenches when it rains water from Makindye, Katwe and surrounding places ends up in Kiti Zone and because people dump garbage in the trenches. They trenches get blocked and the water begins flowing into the residents’ houses and children play in it.

Even under such unimaginable conditions, these children have not stopped dreaming, “I want to be an engineer, I have to sell charcoal to raise money for my fees and books,” says 14-year-old Daudi Nyombi,.

It takes time for children like Nyombi to work their way out of the slums, with alcohol, drugs and gang members sharing space with them, the temptation to stray from their dreams is everywhere.

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