Ban kaveera to clean up Uganda, Buluba Hospital chief appeals
George William Othieno acknowledged that such a move would have social and economic implications, including job losses and the possible collapse of manufacturing firms.
George William Othieno (holding a sack) with staff from St.Francis General Hospital during the National Cleaning Day exercise at Musita Trading Centre, Mayuge district, on Saturday. (Photo by Jackie Nambogga)
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The administrator in charge of St Francis Buluba General Hospital in Mayuge district has called on the government to impose a total ban on polythene bags (kaveera), describing it as the best gift it could offer Ugandans.
George William Othieno acknowledged that such a move would have social and economic implications, including job losses and the possible collapse of manufacturing firms.
However, he maintained that banning kaveera remains the best solution to poor waste management, which continues to undermine cleanliness across the country.
“There is general poor management of buveera both in urban and rural communities; besides the social and economic effects, this is very appropriate and would be the best gift for Ugandans,” he said.
The administrator in charge of St Francis Buluba General Hospital, George William Othieno, who led a team from the hospital to clean Musita Trading Centre on Saturday (October 31, 2026). (Photo by Jackie Nambogga)
Othieno made the remarks during the National Cleaning Day exercise on October 31, 2026, when he led a team from the hospital in cleaning Musita trading centre in Baitambogwe subcounty, Mayuge district.
During the four-hour exercise, he said much of the garbage had been packed in polythene bags and dumped indiscriminately, while some of the polythene bags were scattered by the wind.
“The situation has been filthy; some buveera contained flying toilets while others had garbage, yet we kept uprooting that as a measure of fighting environmental degradation,” he said.
Othieno instead urged the government to promote paper bags and traditional shopping bags made from palm leaves, which he said were environmentally friendly.
“Whatever we buy is packed in kaveera, which are badly discarded, yet we used to have eco-friendly bags which are easily degraded and rot, unlike the buveera which take 500 years,” he said.
Government efforts to ban kaveera date back to 2007, when restrictions were introduced on thinner polythene bags. A wider ban announced in 2009 was suspended in 2010 following resistance from manufacturers.
Despite renewed enforcement efforts in 2015, the passage of the National Environment Act in 2019 and repeated government directives, polythene bags remain widely used, largely due to weak enforcement and the limited uptake of alternatives.
Meanwhile, in Magamaga town council, also in Mayuge district, Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) officers from Magamaga Barracks cleaned the market and police post before proceeding to clean around their barracks.
Led by the cantonment political commissar, Maj. Stephen Kwagala, the officers also enforced the cleaning exercise guidelines by encouraging civilian motorists to join them in washing and sweeping, without using force or resorting to harassment.
Security personnel also restricted motorists along the Jinja-Iganga-Tororo highway, resulting in a queue of vehicles, mainly heavy cargo trucks, on the Iganga side.