Kapchorwa town relies on one public toilet

By Stephen Ssenkaaba and Lawrence Okwakol
trueIn the Make Uganda Clean campaign, Vision Group is profiling major urban centres in the country, highlighting their sanitation situation, with a view to recognising the cleanest towns at the end of November. Today, we bring you profiles of Kapchorwa and Ishaka towns

Kapchorwa town is known for many things; most prominent of which is producing Stephen Kiprotich — Uganda’s Olympic gold medalist. It is also known for its hilly and sometimes treacherous terrain. Away from that, Kapchorwa town is suffocating under its own dirt and residents are fed up.

A recent Vision Group survey on cleanliness in the town reveals concerns over the poor state of the markets, poor garbage disposal, dirty streets and impassable roads. The survey conducted between August and September this year revealed the absence of dustbins in the town. For instance, 93% of the respondents had not sene dustbins in the town. All the respondents reported that it was not easy to access a dustbin in Kapchorwa town.

Ninety-three percent had seen someone litter in Town clerk’s view: We work within our means the past three months. And, 27% admitted to have done nothing to improve cleanliness in their town. The situation is worsened by bad weather, especially during the rainy season. No respondent claimed to have seen any sewage burst in the town.

This is because the town has no central sewerage system. Public toilets are in a bad shape here, and 73% of the respondents said toilets in this town were dirty and not sufficient. The sh200 that is charged for one to use the public toilet is keeping some poor people away.

The question is: Where do they go when they need to use the toilet?
The town is teeming with overgrown grass and, as 20% of the respondents observed, there are no efforts from the authorities to clear these bushes. Added to this mess is the uncontrolled loitering of animals and fowls in the town, which authorities seem to have done very little about.

Considering that a staggering 87% of our respondents claimed to have seen loitering animals in the town, this problem cannot be ignored. The town does not have a single street light and wallows in darkness throughout the night. The town clerk promises to work with the mayor to ensure that Kapchorwa streets are lit up.

Best practice The town operates a community development project where local people are encouraged to observe hygiene. It also equips them with basic sanitation facilities like plate stands, rubbish pits and water taps, among others.

The town council health department headed by Jackline Abalo educates communities on proper garbage management and hygiene. It has also established three demonstration forest sites each with 700 trees to encourage environmental protection. The council provides a tractor, which collects rubbish on a weekly basis to rid the town of filth.

Town clerk’s view:
We work within our means

The town clerk Moses Otimong says the absence of proper facilities is making the cleaning work more complicated. “There is need to provide the town cleaners with better equipment and gadgets like boots, gloves, long rakes and spades,” he says. Right now, he observed, the town council cannot provide sufficient materials because of budgetary constraints. “We try to work within our means to manage garbage collection in this town,” he says

Mayor’s view:
One toilet is not enough
Mayor Stephen Tabya says the entire town has one public toilet, located near the market. For a population of 15,000 people, one toilet is not enough. “This is a great challenge to us, as people have to find alternative places to use as toilet,” says Tabya. He says that plans are underway to construct another latrine.

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Kapchorwa town council leaders inspecting materials to be used in Chemonges road works

ISHAKA TOWN

Ishaka town’s maze of modernity and chaos
By Stephen Ssenkaaba and Chris Mugasha
Ishaka town busts with life. There is a university and business is picking up fast. New property is already gracing the skyline and more people are flocking in. Yet, the growth of this town seems to present as many opportunities as threats. As more people flock the town to do business and to establish homes, facilities are becoming constrained. Alongside the modern infrastructure and booming business is chaos, slums and filth.

Without a physical and strategic development plan, the town is turning into a messy maze of unplanned structures. “People are building without plans; this is a great challenge to us,” says the LC3 chairperson, Deus Mukyenga. He adds that once a plan has been obtained ‘these people will lose out.’ Michael Kamugisha, the municipal council’s physical planner, says all efforts to stop illegal constructions in the town have fallen on deaf ears. “Even when we tell the developers to wait, they cannot,” he says.

The town needs over sh50m to develop a physical plan for the whole municipality of Bushenyi/Ishaka. A Vision Group survey has unearthed appalling findings on sanitation and hygiene in Ishaka town. The survey, based on views of local residents indicates dissatisfaction over cleanliness. Eighty-two percent of the respondents said dustbins in the town were insufficient and dirty.

Eighty-two percent also said they had ever seen someone litter in the town over the last three months. Thirty-six percent said they had done nothing to keep their town clean. Waste management is a big problem in Ishaka. As more people come to work and live here, and with the existence of Ishaka Adventist Hospital and Kampala International University Teaching Hospital, a lot of waste is being generated, which the council authorities have not found a solution to.

Currently, the town council lacks a garbage truck, which means that a lot of garbage goes uncollected.In some areas, especially the hospitals and at the Ishaka central market, garbage is supposed to be collected every day. This is hardly the case. Instead, all refuse is left to pile as authorities try to find a truck to remove it.

Sometimes, this garbage is collected on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but only when a truck is available. In the past, the town council had gazetted specific areas for garbage collection. The bins have since been removed from the gazetted areas and many residents do not have proper places to dump their garbage.

Many areas in Ishaka do not have water. One of the most affected areas is Katungu; going for many months without a single drop. In the dry season, people spend between sh500 to sh1,000 to buy a 20-litre jerrycan of water. Mukyenga says the council is awaiting support from the National Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Ishaka also struggles with overgrown grass. Indeed, 55% of our respondents said they had seen overgrown bushes in the town and reported no efforts by the authorities to clear it. Ishaka was formerly called Ekyaapa (sign post) because it was the only item that existed on the roadside.

Later, some visionary individuals like Erisa Kabirisi, Rwakwizire, Paul Mukyenga and Idi Bassajjabalaba decided to establish commercial buildings. In the early 1950s, it became a town board under Nyabubare subcounty. In the 1980s it was tagged to Bushenyi town and the two towns became Bushenyi/ Ishaka town council.

With a population of about 30,000 people, Ishaka Division has 13 primary schools, both government and private, five secondary schools, two private hospitals and one health centre II. It has one planner, a health inspector, one engineer, a lands officer, an education officers and one environmental officer

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The main street in Ishaka town. Photos by Chris Mugasha

Budget
Ishaka Division runs on a budget of sh470m. Sh330m is generated from local revenue, while sh138m comes from the central government. Twenty percent of the local revenue goes into sanitation. The town has 18 cleaners, who clean along the streets on a daily basis.

Good practices

The authorities have joined hands with residents who help sort garbage as a measure to reduce its volume. The authorities plan to decompose the garbage into manure and give it to farmers to boost agricultural production. According to the town clerk, Didas Muhanguzi, when the farmers see the improved yields, they will support the initiative to sort and collect the garbage

Plans
 

• Council is planning to construct
• drainage channels
• Purchasing garbage skips
• Opening markets
• Tree-planting
• Repairing public toilets
• Extending water and electricity to the
• neighbouring areas
• Expanding Kashenyi health centre

Sanitation highlights
Drainage

The town has a poor drainage system. Indeed, 27% of our respondents claim to have seen sewage bursts in town with very little efforts from the authorities to have them fixed.

Thanks to the absence of a proper drainage system, when it rains, some areas, especially along the Main street, simply flood. Mukyenga says that council is waiting for the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to intervene.

Toilets

The town has three public toilets (pitlatrines). One of them, located in Ishaka central market, is not functional. For a population of 30,000 people, these toilets are not enough. In the survey, 64% of the respondents said the toilets were dirty. At an average cost of sh122, many people here cannot afford the public toilet. This means they use the bush or polythene bags
 

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