By Aggrey Baba
The Rotary Club of Kulambiro has pledged to take the lead in mobilizing communities to separate garbage and keep their surroundings clean and healthy, as Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the Ministry of Health joined hands to promote the “Yawula Kasasiro” campaign.
The campaign, which was launched on Friday, August 21, 2026, at Kulambiro Market, is aimed at encouraging Ugandans to separate waste at household and community level to improve waste management, protect the environment and prevent health-related problems.
The campaign was also supported by the Rotary Club of Kulambiro, with activities extending from Kulambiro Market to Kulambiro Police Station and later East High Market. At each stop, residents and traders were educated on why and how to separate different types of waste, while rubbish bins were also distributed.
Speaking during the launch, the President of the Rotary Club of Kulambiro, Mr Edie Rush Ntumwa, welcomed the campaign, saying it was important that KCCA and the Ministry of Health had taken the message directly to communities.
Ntumwa said Rotary was fully behind the campaign and would not wait for the national cleaning day or the last Saturday of every month to participate in keeping the city clean.
He pledged that Rotary members would continue moving around the community, mobilizing residents and participating in cleaning activities alongside them.
The campaign comes at a time when poor garbage disposal remains a major challenge in Kampala, with waste often mixed together, dumped in undesignated places or burnt.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine, said poor waste management was a serious problem not only in Kulambiro but across Kampala and other parts of the country.
Atwine linked poor environmental management to growing health concerns, noting that statistics from Mulago Hospital show that cancer cases among Ugandans have tripled.
She cautioned that while cancer has several causes, the way waste is handled, including the burning of plastic materials, can expose people and the environment to harmful substances.
The PS urged residents to embrace waste separation by putting plastics and polythene materials separately from biodegradable waste such as banana peelings, other food peelings, wasted food and agro-products.
She encouraged households with enough space to dig pits where food and other biodegradable waste can be buried and allowed to decompose.
According to Atwine, the decomposed material can later be removed and used as manure on farms, turning waste into a useful resource instead of allowing it to become a health and environmental hazard.
She also revealed that some companies have already come forward to buy recyclable waste such as plastics and paper, with their contacts being provided to residents to facilitate the collection and recycling of such materials.
Atwine further pledged to return to Kulambiro Market on August 29, the last Saturday of August, for the National Cleaning Day activities.
However, Ntumwa said the Rotary Club would not wait for August 29 to act, insisting that the campaign should become a continuous community effort.
Dr Sarah Zarwango, the Director of Public Health and Environment at KCCA, said the Authority was doing everything possible to ensure Kampala becomes a clean and healthy city.
She urged residents to embrace “Yawula Kasasiro” and make waste separation part of their daily routine.
The campaign involved local leaders who worked alongside KCCA and Ministry of Health officials to sensitize residents and traders. The teams also demonstrated the importance of separating waste at the point where it is generated.
The organizers said proper separation would make it easier to recycle materials such as plastics and paper while allowing biodegradable waste to be safely composted or buried.
The campaign therefore seeks to shift waste management from simply collecting mixed garbage after it has been generated to encouraging households, markets and other communities to take responsibility for separating waste at source. It was at this point that Dr Zalwango said the campaign is intended at avoiding a repeat of the Kiteezi land fill tragedy, which claimed lives and left many homeless and also protect the land fill in Buyala., Mityana road.
With Rotary promising to keep mobilizing residents beyond the national cleaning day, KCCA and the Ministry of Health are hoping that the “Yawula Kasasiro” message will grow into a wider community movement aimed at making Kampala cleaner, healthier and safer. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
