With the rapid development, Mbarara city has attracted all categories of people — both rich and poor.

The majority of the people are low-income earners who live in slums or informal settlements.  The city has 12 slum settlements.

They are Akachwampare, Kihangire, Tankhill, Kirehe, Kiswahili, Kijungu, Kisenyi and Kashanyarazi. The others are Biafra-Kajogo, Butabika and Kiyanja.

All these are in Mbarara South and Mbarara North divisions.

The first settlement, known as Kiswahili, is said to have been established 100 years ago.

All the 12 settlements are characterised by poor housing, lack of good access roads, poor sanitation, crime and disease.

Most slum dwellers live in small houses whose size ranges from 8ftx8ft to 10ftx12ft.

Although Kiswahili is the oldest slum settlement in Mbarara, the biggest are Kisenyi, Kijungu, BiafraKajogo and Kiyanja.

Waste dumped in Kisenyi-Kijungu slums drainage channel in Mbarara city

Ahmed Ssembirige, a 57-year-old resident and LC1 chairperson of Biafra cell in Mbarara North, who was born and grew up in the same area, says most of the houses in the settlement are mainly mud and wattle with a few permanent structures.

He says the former municipal council authorities failed to control the construction of illegal structures.

Ssembirige says the drainage channels in the settlement have become death traps.

Some of the people who live in the houses that were built on the banks of the big drainage channels are affected by floods whenever it rains.

“Mbarara city council has failed to maintain the channels. They are bushy and have become mosquito breeding grounds. The council has failed to control the illegal construction in wetlands and channels,” Ssembirige says.

He also accuses people who live near the channels of emptying their waste into the facility, putting other people’s lives at risk.

James Mugisha, a resident of Kisenyi in Mbarara South division, says the council has failed to maintain the drainage channels, which has resulted in some residents turning them into rubbish pits, thus clogging them. 

Council’s plan 

Richard Mugisha, the Mbarara city deputy clerk, says the council plans to improve the already established slums by widening the drainage channels and work on the welfare for the slum dwellers.

“We want to prevent the new developing places from becoming slums and that is why the city council came up with guidelines for developments. We must act now to avoid being caught up in scenarios similar to those of the big slums of Nairobi, Kampala and India,” he says.

Mugisha adds that the council, together with the lands ministry through Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID), has come up with the programme of managing stormwater, opening up roads and improving the welfare of the communities.

“We feel that instead of chasing or wishing the slum dwellers away, we take a gradual approach to improve the conditions, so that the residents become part and parcel of improving the conditions in their areas,” he adds.

How big slums were established 

• Kiswahili settlement is located in Kakoba ward and started in the 1920s.

The place got its name from the first settlers, who were Kiswahili speaking people from Kenya, Tanzania and Nubians.

The settlement is on 20 acres owned by individual landlords. The average size of houses there is 10ftx10ft.

The residents get their water from standpipes and a spring well. 

The settlement has got drainage channels, which are maintained by the community LC1 leadership.

• Kisenyi settlement started mushrooming in the 1980s. The area at the time was bushy and was a hideout for robbers due to its location near the town centre.

The businessmen from Kampala named the area Kisenyi after the Kisenyi slum in Kampala, which was also known for crime.

The settlement is on 366.8 acres of land owned by individuals. The settlement has anti-malaria channels that were provided and are maintained by the city.

There are over 8,000 pit latrines in the city. It has one sewer line which is maintained by National Water and Sewerage Corporation, but it does not cover the entire settlement.

The majority of the residents are businessmen, bodaboda cyclists and traders. They use electricity and candles for lighting, firewood and charcoal for cooking.

• Kijungu settlement is located in Nyamityobora ward near Kisenyi and the bus park. It consists of Kabateraine, Agip, Central and Market cells.

The settlement started in 1986 on 84 acres owned by different individuals.

The main sources of employment within the settlement are shops, bars, lodges and pork joints. The average room size ranges from 8ftx10ft and 3ftx3ft.

The settlement has drainage channels and like the case with other slums, they are not well-maintained as residents sometimes use them as their waste dumping site.

• Biafra-Kajogo settlement is located in Kamukuzi ward, Mbarara North along Ntare and Victor Bwana roads.

The settlement started in 1967 and the first settler was from Tanzania. It is said the residents of the place were mostly drunkards who often fought a lot.

At that time, the Biafran secession war was raging in Nigeria, hence the name.

It is on 139 acres owned by individuals with houses, mostly semi-permanent and permanent. 

They use pit latrines with one public toilet constructed in Makhan Singh Market by the city council. The majority of the residents are small scale traders.

Stakeholder speaks out

Clare Kamugisha Kashaija, the National Slum Dwellers Association of Uganda, western region representative in charge of health and hygiene, says public toilets are key to improving sanitation in the slums.

She says the challenge is finding a piece of land where to build a public toilet in the crowded settlements.

“The challenge is that the council no longer has land in these slums where it can construct public toilets and water points. We have, however, showed them that through the slums dwellers’ association, we can construct a public toilet as we did in Nyamityobora and Kijungu market,” Kamugisha says.

There is also a need to support local leaders to sensitise the residents in order to improve sanitation and address the issues of insecurity.

What the residents say

Anthony Twijukye from Kisenyi

We are living on a time bomb due to poor sanitation in our area. The council has failed to work on the drainage channels, we fear we will contract cholera because drainages filled with waste are too close to the homes yet people prepare meals on verandas, exposed to the stench and flies from dirty drainage channels. 

Victor Mugisha

I call upon council authorities to save us from drainage channels that are likely to be death traps.

Why does the council take long to clean up drainage channels?

They are the ones tempting residents to turn them into dumping sites because they are not attended to.

Wilberforce Musimenta

We need to come from sleep and work on issues affecting our community.

Leaders should put in place measures to keep these drainage channels clean and collect waste from homes, otherwise, we are not safe. We need to play a role and save ourselves.