By Francis Emorut
KAMPALA - Government should develop a policy that mandates city dwellers to clean Kampala city and its surroundings, the executive director of City Yange Foundation, Isaac Rucci said.
He made it clear that policy makers should embark on policy development of cleaning the city by its occupants like it is done in other African countries.
He made pointed reference to Rwanda, Cameroon, Nigeria and Burundi as some of the countries where its citizens engage in cleaning their cities once every month.
“Why doesn’t the government borrow a leaf from Rwanda’s government policy of cleaning a city every Saturday of the month?” Rucci wondered.
The executive director made the remarks at the close of last week as his organization – City Yange Foundation – spearheaded the cleaning exercise of Makerere Kivulu slum in partnership with Warid Telecom and Kampala Mayor’s office.
He drew stark emphasis on the need to make city dwellers to own the cleaning exercise instead of leaving the task solely to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
On top of that, he called for a change in attitude among the urban dwellers.
Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago called on the elite in Kampala, the corporate, MPs, judges and ministers to get involved in cleaning the city.
Lukwago, who joined residents of Makerere Kivulu in cleaning up the slum area, described the living conditions there as “pathetic”.
“The situation is dire and it poses hygienic threat as we are likely to face outbreak of cholera,” he warned.
The air was clogged with a sickening stench as volunteers and KCCA workers unblocked drainage systems and trenches that were filled with polythene bags, broken bottles and other solid substances.
“If we don’t act now the outcome is going to be catastrophic if the responsibility is left only to the down-trodden,” foresaw the Mayor.
Mary Nakyimera, a resident of the area, commended the volunteers and the mayor’s office for tidying up their slum.
A KCCA worker, clad in his gear and armed with a hoe, stands in a filthy pool of sewage as he tries to comb clean the area. PHOTO/Francis Emorut
This volunteer shovels a filthy cocktail of bottles, polythene bags, pipes and all sorts that had blocked the trench. Government has been asked to draw up a policy that will see city dwellers dig their hands into cleaning of the city. PHOTO/Francis Emorut
