Hajati Sharifah Buzeki, the recently appointed Executive Director (ED) of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), took an unscheduled tour of the city’s main marketplaces on Saturday, just four days after taking office.
However, the dirty sights of uncollected trash in the commercial arcades and markets overcame her.
Among other things, the inspection sought to gather firsthand information on solid waste management, clearing out collected trash, hot spots, problems, and the most effective ways to handle them.
She gave her team at City Hall instructions to prioritize city hygiene by collecting trash on time and maintaining garbage vehicles on a regular basis to prevent backlogs.
During her trip on Saturday, January 11, 2025, which lasted the remainder of the day, the ED discovered that most markets and other locations had not had their rubbish collected for the preceding four days, which had a negative impact on local commerce and created unsightly conditions.
The executive team and the police attempting to gain entry to their areas of operation without warning startled a lot of vendors and market masters.
She encountered mountains of uncollected trash when she visited Nakasero, Usafi, St. Balikuddembe (Owino), Kafumbe Mukasa Road, and Cooper Complex.
During her tour, Buzeki was uneasy to see so many vendors operating unconcernedly among rotting trash in areas where they sell fresh fruits and vegetables. She was joined by her deputy, Benon Moses Kigenyi, who is also new to the position, Dr. Sarah Zalwango, the acting Director of Public Health and Environment, and Sadati Kiwewa, the in-charge of sanitation.
As she observed, she paused in a few places and requested the vendors to clear the trash surrounding their booths, wondering how the city inhabitants had adapted to dealing with waste.
To the astonishment of the KCCA employees who followed, the vivacious Buzeki crossed the streets at a high pace as she walked from one market to another.
When she questioned numerous market masters and other authorities about the existence of garbage heaps, they told her that garbage collectors—mostly private companies—had been missing for days.
Additionally, she was informed that garbage trucks had mechanical issues.
According to one of the leaders, they had a significant backlog since truck drivers were also experiencing a lot of interference from waste dumps and heavy traffic, which caused delays for the drivers.
However, Buzeki ordered that backup garbage trucks be parked in crowded marketplaces so that they could remove collected waste right away rather than waiting for it to build up.
In order to prevent business interruptions, she advised the solid waste managers to collect rubbish from the collection centers on time.
On Saturday, Buzeki and her group made two trips back to the marketplaces to make sure the trash was taken out as promised. She promised to keep giving spontaneous tours to make sure the city gets back on track.
In a phone conversation with New Vision, she said, “I was disappointed with what I first saw, but later I was pleased that when I returned to the markets, late afternoon starting at 3:30pm, all the garbage had been collected as promised.”
The new ED made an immediate fact-finding tour to numerous locations to obtain information about rubbish collection, which had become a big challenge throughout the city, according to Daniel Muhumuza NuweAbine, the KCCA Public Relations Officer (PRO).
He clarified that when she arrived in the morning, she was impressed by the prompt action of the rubbish collection businesses, who assured her that they would have cleared the backlog by noon.
“However, she was initially let down when she went back to Owino and other locations and discovered that they were still collecting by the scheduled time, but by the time she returned at 3:30 pm, the locations were clear,” NuweAbine stated.
According to the PRO, the teams blamed a number of problems, including a shortage of personnel, for the delay.
In order to guarantee that the markets are always clean, he clarified, “the ED ordered the concerned offices to have a dedicated team of mechanics in place to regularly maintain our trucks to remain on standby and pick any garbage that comes up.”
In order to prevent littering, she also asked a number of ladies who sold fresh fruits to individually carry a bag around their places of employment and pick up their trash.
“The newly hired Executive Director at KCCA, the deputy ED, and I managed the city’s rubbish evacuation this morning (Saturday), paying close attention to the work of private garbage collection businesses. Important locations under our surveillance were markets and the central business division (CBD-arcades), Dr. Zalwango said.
