Filth chokes Kampala's suburbs

By Tony Achidria

The pearl of Afica’s capital, Kampala, is not so full of pearls anymore.  A stroll around the city’s suburbs will lead one to a world of enormous filth.

Polythene bags, plastic bottles, banana peels and tiny pieces of charcoal all in one heap are a common sight. To accompany the eye sore is an unpleasant stench.

The stench from such garbage is unbearable for someone who doesn’t live nearby, but seems normal for those living in the neighborhoods.

They are a play area for children, who, unbothered about the health risks, scamper around with scavengers, looking for items they can turn into toys.

The situation
Located in the north of Kampala, Bwaise is an area with a high population. One major feature here is a clogged drainage, with stagnant water. Plastic bottles and polythene bags float together with aquatic weeds in these water bodies.

On the other side of the puddle of water, a herd of about five cows graze peacefully. Nearby, chicken and ducks feed unbothered, while goats linger around looking confused about the taxi motorcycles, known as bodabodas, which squeeze in and out of a narrow alley.

The droppings and dung from the animals is allover the place, but people go about their business, unbothered about the filth.

Out of a one roomed house appears a woman, baby strapped to her back, she pours the contents of a pan onto the open sending, the chicken scampering. In a second, the chicken are back to start pecking at whatever the woman had thrown.

A few metres away toddlers play in the dirt. The younger one picks up something from the ground and fixes it into his mouth. His older siblings are not as keen to stop him. They go about playing unbothered about the environment in which they are in.

Residents speak
“We grew up here. This is where my grandparents lived and we have no where else to go. This is the only kind of life we know,” said Peter Kizito a 35-year-old resident. He has three children and lives in a one roomed house with his wife.

His wife seems resigned to the situation as well. “I also grew up here and I’ve got a man who takes care of me. What more would I want…” she said.

Most of the other residents have left the situation to fate and have no hope that the situation will ever change. They say all previous leaders have promised to look into the problem but never lived up to their word.

The situation in Bwaise is a replica of most of the city suburbs. Except for the upscale areas like Kololo, and Muyenga, garbage collection and disposal is a big problem.

Related articles

Manage Garbage to control Cholera-KCCA

Garbage collection in Kampala
Floods in the suburbs of Kampala city
Typhoid in Kampala