Kamdini leaders call for better waste management to sustain National Cleaning Day
Ogwang Obura said maintaining a clean environment is a shared responsibility that would help reduce diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and malaria by eliminating poor sanitation and mosquito breeding sites.
Locals collecting garbage during Cleaning Day in Kamdini town council. (Photos by Saidi Engola)
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Calls for improved waste management facilities dominated the first National Cleaning Day in Kamdini town council, Oyam district, with the business community, security agencies and political leaders urging authorities to provide proper sanitation equipment to sustain the monthly exercise.
The appeal came as the MP for Oyam South Constituency and chairperson of the Lango Parliamentary Group, Patrick Ogwang Obura, led residents, security agencies, health workers and traders in a clean-up campaign held on July 25, 2026, in line with the government's National Cleaning Day initiative.
Addressing participants during the launch of the exercise, Ogwang Obura praised residents who took part, noting that public turnout was high because people were aware of the exercise, while others kept their businesses closed during the designated cleaning hours.
He appreciated the Uganda Police Force, health workers, market vendors, the business community, boda boda riders and Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA) for supporting the campaign.
Ogwang Obura said maintaining a clean environment is a shared responsibility that would help reduce diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and malaria by eliminating poor sanitation and mosquito breeding sites.
He also noted that cleaner urban centres would improve public health and strengthen Kamdini town council's prospects of attaining municipal status.
Ogwang Obura commended the LCIII chairperson of Kamdini town council, Denis Okello Opio, and the town clerk, Robert Owor, for providing a tractor to collect waste during the exercise.
He expressed confidence that the initiative would be sustainable, noting that his office had allocated support for the programme. He also urged the authorities to install street lights to boost night-time trade.
He donated one wheelbarrow and five spades to support waste collection and urged the authorities to install streetlights in Kamdini town council, Loro town council and Minakulu town council, as well as open more streets.
Despite welcoming the initiative, traders said the success of future clean-up campaigns would depend on better logistical support.
Bosco Ogwang Atoli, the LC5 councillor representing Kamdini town council at Oyam District Local Government, encouraged communities, traders, security agencies, political leaders and cultural institutions to continue improving environmental cleanliness.
Hudson Ebong, a resident of Kamdini township, said traders lacked basic equipment, including wheelbarrows, gloves and gumboots, making it difficult to collect garbage safely.
He appealed to Kamdini town council to provide a permanent waste container at the market and along Lira Road and the Gulu-Kampala highway to improve waste disposal and maintain cleanliness.
Joseph Otim Bala, a resident of Kamdini township, welcomed the initiative and applauded the NRM government for supporting National Cleaning Day.
Kevin Aunu, the councillor representing persons with disabilities in Kamdini Town Council, appreciated the town council leadership for embracing cleanliness.
National Cleaning Day was introduced following a directive by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja requiring Ugandans to dedicate the last Saturday of every month, from 7:00 am to 10:00 am, to cleaning homes, markets, schools, workplaces and public spaces.
The campaign aims to improve sanitation, prevent disease outbreaks, protect the environment and promote collective responsibility for keeping communities clean. The government has urged citizens across the country to actively participate in the monthly exercise.