Kiteezi tragedy: City on cliff edge over waste crisis

The removal and management of the 2,500-tonne garbage generated daily in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, has been hanging in the balance after vast sections of its only dumpsite in Kiteezi, Wakiso District, suffered a structural failure years after it should have closed.

Investigators constituted on orders of President Museveni are examining whether the collapse was an accident or a result of criminal negligence, with the head of state demanding answers on who authorised settlements in the landfill neighbourhood.

The search and rescue works have meant trucks could no longer drop additional garbage at the ill-fated landfill, yet residents ganged up against City Hall’s plan to use Nkumba-Bukolwa landfill or the 135-acre vacant land in Ddundu, Mukono District, which KCCA bought in 2016.

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago yesterday confirmed that they had reached an understanding with Katabi Town Council for KCCA to use the landfill there for a month as it scouts sustainable options.

“We are going to have a meeting tomorrow … thrash out all the issues and then come out with appropriate measures in line with the conditions set by the leadership of Katabi Town Council,” he said.

The demands, according to Katabi Mayor Ronald Kalema, include City Hall expanding and maintaining the roads to the landfill alongside expanding the dumpsite itself to widen waste intake capacity.

“We held a meeting and agreed [that] the garbage trucks will branch off at Kasenyi road stage, not the Nkumba University stage, while taking the garbage to the landfill as it has been in the past and exit through the Nkumba-Bwaise route that connects to the Kampala- Entebbe highway at Nkumba stage that they have always been using,” he said.

Mr Kalema said they have agreed to have a water bowser truck to soak the dirt road and limit dust on the path of the garbage trucks. 

Officials also agreed to deploy more bulldozers and excavators to compact and level the garbage to prevent a towering pile that can crash as it did in Kiteezi on Saturday.

Mr Frank Rusa, the KCCA director of legal affairs, yesterday said the authority is struggling with how to cope with the waste crisis in the city.

“Where is the budget line for a national solid waste management treatment centre? And there was quite a bit of discussion about it and lack of clarity. I think a national solid waste management treatment centre cannot be left to KCCA alone because it’s huge,” he said.

The questions that Mr Rusa raised illuminate the dilemmas for cities and municipalities in managing waste in urban areas that generate more waste than available resources to dispose of them safely. 

For example, the Executive yesterday told Parliament that they are looking for Shs200b to fund construction of an environmentally-friendly facility at Ddundu in Mukono to convert solid waste to electricity – a practice in many countries, including neighbouring Rwanda.  

KCCA owns an additional four acres of land at Kiteezi, but Mr Rusa ruled out ever dumping garbage there in the wake of the population agitated by the fatal site collapse.

“It is true there is four acres allocated, but we don’t intend to even attempt to use that for more garbage [dump]. We have made it to be used to ease on the pressure because the technical advice we have is that as a preliminary [measure], we need to reduce the height. So, there is no way we can consider using that remaining four acres for further development,” he said.

City Hall has come under tighter scrutiny following revelations that it failed to act when its own internal assessment condemned Kiteezi landfill for continued use due to structural flaws and it was filled beyond capacity.

Lord Mayor Lukwago, like other lawyers interviewed by this newspaper, suggested that the blood of those killed by the rumbling debris was on the hands of KCCA official who should be held criminally liable for rash and negligent acts.

Round the place protest

In its defence, technocrats led by KCCA executive director Dorothy Kisaka said their hands to develop Ddundu land remain tied eight years since acquisition of the property, because some residents opposed the waste project in the area and ran to court to block it.

A final judgment is pending. 

KCCA separately procured land at Nakawuka in Entebbe for dumping garbage, but a crisis meeting at City Hall heard that it had been heavily encroached.

While KCCA got a deal to dump the city waste in Entebbe’s Katabi area, residents of Nansana separately rejected a third option on the table to dispose of the solid waste from the city in Menvu, Wakiso District. 

Led by the Nansana Municipality Mayor Regina Bakitte, the residents said they will not allow KCCA trucks to set foot in the area.

“I bought that land using property tax funds to set up a long-term investment of a recycling plant and we are looking for donors to fund this project, which is estimated to cost us Shs5b. How can they access our land minus my notice? That is trespass, I can even sue them,” Ms Bakitte said.

Mr Sam Mugabe, a resident of Menvu, said KCCA will have to look for other alternatives elsewhere instead of Menvu.

“The land was acquired by two municipalities (Nansana and Kira), which promised us services in the area before they start using their land,” he said.

Mr Mugabe added that the landlord cut part of their land and promised to give them titles, a promise he said is yet to be fulfilled a decade later.

“If KCCA comes to use the land, it means we shall not get our titles as promised,” he said.

Mr Ashiraf Kigudde, a resident, said monitoring teams have been instituted to ensure no truck passes to the dump site.

“All roads that access the land have been blocked and we shall not allow anyone to tamper with our land before we get the titles and other demands,” he said.

Mr Suleiman Mpulunguse, another resident, said they have lived in the area for years surviving on dirty water sources and were hopeful that Nansana would drill boreholes and abandon the well in their land.

“The original plan by the mayor of Nansana was to set up a recycling plant and we had agreed on that, but just to get surprised that an alternative for Kiteezi is now Menvu, which we cannot accept,” he said.

Mr Ivan Kiggwe, a councillor representing Lugo Parish, said they had agreed as leaders representing locals at the municipality that they bring a recycling plant, not just dumping garbage.

“On Monday, the KCCA team, together with ministers of Kampala and Wakiso [District] leadership visited the land, yet it does not belong to them. Whatever they are conniving to do will not be allowed by the leaders. Unless Nansana Municipality mayor takes the lead in this development, we shall not accept anyone to dump waste in our area,” Mr Kiggwe said

Across the city on the eastern side, residents of Ddundu in Mukono district also warned KCCA never to set foot on the land that belongs to the entity.

Ms Sarah Nansubuga, a resident at Ddundu, told this publication that KCCA should plan to have another area or develop Kiteezi since it’s already a dumping area, a suggestion that the authority has already ruled out.

“We shall also be affected by the landfill if KCCA insists to develop this area for waste management. Some of us stay 100 metres away from the site and the sources of water are in the same area. Therefore, [an] improper disposal of waste in the area will cause air pollution, soil and water contamination yet various communities depend on the area for drinking water,” she said.

Mr Emmanuel Kuteesa, the area vice chairperson, said five community wells in the proposed area are serving three villages of Bamutakudde, Buntaba and Ddundu.

“If KCCA is stranded with where to relocate the affected families, we can allow them relocate here but not dumping waste,” he said.

The Kyampisi LCIII chairperson, Mr Jamir Iga, said they are going to mobilise residents and block the trucks to the area.

Mr Abudallah Kiwanuka, the area MP, advised Kampala leaders to relocate the landfill to another area.

“As residents, we shall not allow garbage to be dumped in this area, they should not tamper to drive those trucks to Ddundu because the area is occupied by so many residents,” he said.

By Franklin Draku, Paul Adude, Jessica Sabano, Noeline Nabukenya, Martha Namono, Maria Jacinta Kannyange & Oscar Isabirye