National Cleaning Day: Kasese markets left with heaps of collected garbage
Despite the exercise being aimed at ensuring a cleaner environment, many people working in public places, especially markets, have been left stranded with piles of collected garbage heaped around their workplaces, posing health risks.
Garbage is heaped near people's workplaces at Mawa Market, located in the Nywamba Division of Kasese Municipality, causing residents to express concerns about health threats. (Photo by Samuel Amanyire)
_________________
Residents of Kasese, including leaders, locals, organisations and members of the business community, on July 25, 2026, joined the rest of the country in observing National Cleaning Day, mainly cleaning public places such as markets and town streets.
Despite the exercise being aimed at ensuring a cleaner environment, many people working in public places, especially markets, have been left stranded with piles of collected garbage heaped around their workplaces, posing health risks.
A visit by New Vision to the markets on Sunday morning found that the garbage collected during the National Cleaning Day exercise had not yet been removed, with heaps of waste still lying at the various collection points.
Benerd Kalisya, a businessman in Kigoro II Market, situated in Rukoki ward, Nyamwamba division, Kasese municipality, expressed concern that the heaped garbage would not only rot and produce a foul smell but also increase the risk of diseases such as cholera.
"We thought that today vans would be roaming around to collect the heaped garbage, but for hours we have not seen any," Kalisya said on Saturday.
"At the end of the day, it is us who work here that will suffer all the consequences," he added.
Sacks of garbage are heaped at Kigoro II market as residents wait for trucks to collect it. (Photo by Samuel Amanyire)
Oliver Salama, a resident of Kisanga B cell who participated in the cleaning exercise, argued that although the garbage had been collected, Kasese Municipal Council should quickly dispatch trucks to collect it from the various locations.
"Don't get shocked to see this heaped garbage spend here more than two weeks when they have not yet taken it to the dump site," Salama said.
Fobian Bwambale, a student at Kabale University who also participated in the exercise under the Kasese University Students Association (KUSA), said the teams had realised the need to sensitise people about urban hygiene based on what they observed during the exercise.
He added that there was also a critical need to install garbage collection facilities in more locations across urban centres and encourage people to dispose of their waste at the gazetted collection points.
"On a day like this one, authorities would have hired many vehicles to ensure quick dumping of the garbage collected, but again some people were asking for gloves, masks and other items," Bwambale said.
Zedekia Kayiri Kambasu, the deputy town clerk of Kasese municipality, acknowledged the challenges, adding that the exercise had been an eye-opener for the leadership on how best to improve hygiene management across the municipality.
"Initially, we are going to commission our health teams to identify all places that are still littered with garbage and then collect it instantly for the good of our people," Kayiri said.
"I appeal to our people to always consider their health and hygiene first, not necessarily waiting for authorities to do everything for them because others want us to even sweep their compounds," he added.
Eriab Begumya Ntarwete, the Kasese deputy chief administrative officer, said the launch was only the beginning of an initiative to improve sanitation and hygiene in Kasese district.
He revealed that the district committee would soon convene to establish better mechanisms for observing National Cleaning Day in Kasese.
Kasese resident district commissioner Lt Joe Walusimbi presided over the launch of the exercise in Kasese town.
He urged residents to embrace the initiative, saying it would improve the health of the people of Kasese and the country in general.