KCCA, education ministry crack the whip on Kampala schools poorly managing waste

The Minister of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Minsa Kabanda, said that an investigative inspection carried out by technical officials from both KCCA and the Ministry of Education and Sports on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, confirmed that St. Kizito Secondary School and St. Anne’s Preparatory School have been discharging wastewater and sewage to the community.

Kabanda was on Thursday, October 5, 2023, responding to a matter of national importance raised by Tororo Woman Representative Sarah Opendi, who had asked the ministry to investigate the mentioned schools.

The two schools are located in Kabowa Parish, Rubaga South, in Kampala City.

“It was confirmed that wastewater from the kitchens and surface runoff was channelled outside the schools via pipes and channels from the schools,” Kabanda said.

According to the minister, whereas both schools had septic tanks and soak pits for sewage, excessive water from rain is usually released outside the schools, causing discomfort and harm to the neighbouring communities.

Kabanda said the two schools have been issued implementation notices to immediately stop their cooks from releasing wastewater and solid waste into the water channels.

“Implementation notices were issued to the schools to deal with the above problem within a period of one week,” Kabanda said.

Opendi said the problem of waste disposal is big and goes beyond the schools.

“We found that KCCA also has huge drainage channels that pass through people's compounds. Some people are using those channels as an outlet for their waste. So KCCA needs to do more in terms of moving around to ensure people dispose of waste in a proper manner,” she said.

Kampala Central Member of Parliament, Hon. Muhammed Nsereko, said the disposal of solid and non-solid waste is one of the problems that have not been addressed in the master plan of KCCA.

“For solid waste, KCCA has only one landfill in Kiteezi that caters to over seven million residents in the city. For non-solid waste, we have an open sewer, which means we can’t avoid the stench,” Nsereko said, adding that a lot more needs to be done to deliver a smart Kampala city.

The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, urged the Ministry for KCCA to ensure proper absorption and utilisation of funds budgeted for infrastructural development.

“We have provided KCCA [with over Shs3 trillion under ADB]; the issue is now on implementation. Minister, go and do a good job on implementation. Otherwise, it will be difficult to give money, and the ministry is not absorbing it,” he said.