Some residents of Makerere Kikoni continue to dump rubbish in open spaces within the area despite continued efforts by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to put warning posts.

Kikoni is a suburb in Kampala along sir Apollo Kwagwa road in Kawempe Division. The slum sandwiched between Makerere University and Kasubi has been transforming due to many hostels that have come up over the past 15 years to accommodate university students. But its rapid growth in physical infrastructure has not translated into better hygiene in some of the areas. Some trenches and open spaces are filled up with rubbish such as empty plastic bottles, polythene bags and leftovers.

Some of the residents who spoke to Journalism@Mak say that the rubbish is always dumped during night hours when there is no one to monitor who is dumping it.

"We sleep when there is no rubbish only to wake up in the morning and the place is filled with rubbish. Our life is actually at a high risk of diseases like cholera,” lamented Maria Nakalembe, a resident in Kikoni.

Ddumba Paul says that people with no rubbish pits and those who do not have money to pay to rubbish collectors could be the ones  dumping rubbish at night.

“ I think those people without rubbish pits and who cannot pay money to the garbage collectors are the ones dumping rubbish in the at night," Ddumba narrated.

Leaders in kikoni say they have  laboured to sensitize residents about the dangers of improper disposal of waste but still people have paid a deaf ear.

"We have always organised village meetings at the end of the month where such issues are discussed but people have failed to respond. But whoever is caught dumping rubbish in unauthorised areas will be punished through fines in monitory terms," explained William Kaland,a the chairman of Makerere Kikoni A.

Mutoni Lucky, also a resident said that they try to burn the rubbish but it increases every day. She called upon authorities to come to their rescue because their lives are in danger of contracting diseases.

According to KCCA, about 28,000 tons of waste is collected and delivered to Kitezi landfill every month.  KCCA records show that this is just about 40% of the waste generated in Kampala.

Photo from KCCA