National cleaning day: Government bans roadside garbage piling

The government has prohibited the piling of garbage along roads during the second National Cleaning Day slated for this weekend.

The order came after the washout that marked the first cleaning exercise, when garbage overwhelmed authorities and remained on some Kampala roads for weeks.

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said on Monday that local council leaders must instead identify designated collection points where trucks can pick up the waste.

The second National Cleaning Day is scheduled for Saturday, August 29, 2026. 

Movement across the country will be restricted between 7am and 10am during the exercise, with exemptions for essential and other authorised travellers.

Speaking to Bukedde TV on Monday night, Nabbanja said the government had learnt from challenges encountered during the first exercise.

“This time, no one is allowed to pile garbage on the streets. The LCs will have to find a location where the garbage will be placed where our trucks will find it; not on the road,” Nabbanja said.

“We have enough trucks this time.”

During the first National Cleaning Day, held on July 25, authorities struggled to remove the large amount of rubbish collected by residents.

In Kampala, piles of garbage remained along some roads for days and, in some places, weeks. Some started rotting before authorities removed them.

Nabbanja said the government had expected the exercise to generate about 2,500 tonnes of garbage but the volume collected in Kampala alone reached 40,000 tonnes.

She said the unexpected volume also created problems at the Buyala waste management facility.

“Even at the garbage collection centre in Buyala, we met challenges because we needed to compress the garbage and yet Ugandan garbage is not separated, which made it hard,” Nabbanja said.

The government has now brought more agencies and local authorities into the exercise to increase the number of available trucks.

Nabbanja said the Ministry of Works and Transport, Wakiso District and municipal councils will provide trucks.

District local governments will also contribute their tipper trucks.

She said road contractors have also been asked to provide trucks, which will be stationed at selected collection points.

“We have asked them to give their trucks to be placed in different locations so that people bring the garbage straight to the trucks,” Nabbanja said.

Where trucks are unavailable, local leaders must identify collection points away from roads but accessible to waste collection vehicles.

“Where there isn’t a truck, the leaders should find an obscure place, rather than dumping it on the roadside. The last time it was a big mess,” Nabbanja said.

The Prime Minister also expressed concern about the type of waste dumped during the previous exercise, saying some of it contained human waste.

“This time, that is why we need to find places to put the garbage but make sure it can be accessed by the trucks,” she said.

The government introduced National Cleaning Day to encourage communities to clean homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods and public spaces.

Authorities hope the additional trucks and designated collection points will prevent a repeat of the waste backlog witnessed after the first exercise.