Godfrey Zzaake Ssemmambo, the LCI Chairperson of Kiteezi, witnessed the opening of the Kiteezi landfill 20 years ago and he clearly recalls everything that transpired then.
The residents of the area were not happy with the quality of the first road that was constructed and they demonstrated until KCCA constructed the current road.
As the concerns over the road were being settled, the garbage kept on piling and the smell started becoming unbearable.
The people of Kiteezi again resorted to demonstrations to make their concerns heard and since then KCCA has ensured that the garbage is regularly covered with soil in order to counter the foul smell.
The garbage attracted large numbers of Marabou storks, which soon created a number of health hazards for the community.
The easy access to left over food also attracted many stray dogs to the landfill and these soon quickly multiplied and before long they became a menace to the community.
Also, the contaminated water from the garbage dump seeped into the area’s water sources, which soon made the water from the area’s springs, wells and boreholes unusable.
Such hardships forced many of the area’s residents to sell off their land to KCCA and relocate to other areas.
However, not all people were able to leave. Francis Yiga and some others are still braving the tough conditions and they have to deal with problems such as contaminated water flowing into their houses during the rainy season.
Yiga was compensated by KCCA though they didn’t settle the entire amount.
KCCA had planned to buy off Yiga’s and his neighbors’ plots of land in order to expand the garbage dumping site.
Yiga showed us the houses KCCA rented for those affected by the land acquisition as their payments were being processed.
However, they were evicted after their time of payment elapsed.
The KCCA Director Public Health and Environment…. Dr. David Sserukka explains the issues surrounding the land aqcuisition.
According to Yiga all is lost and he is just pondering his next move.
KCCA plans to decommission Kiteezi and commission Ddundu, in Mukono district, as the new landfill site for Kampala’s waste disposal.
As these plans go ahead, the challenges of Kiteezi’s residents should be considered so that the the community around Ddundu is spared the fate of undergoing similar experiences.