Uganda ponders lessons from deadly garbage landslide

At least 35 people are now known to have died in a massive garbage landslide following torrential rains that battered parts of Uganda, triggering extensive flooding and damage earlier this month. 

The incident happened after a large chunk broke off a mountain of waste at the Kiteezi landfill on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital, Kampala. The massive pile of garbage slid down a slope into a residential area, burying several homes.  

Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago, who had warned about the risks of overflowing waste from the site, described the landslide as a "national disaster."

Following the landslide, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni demanded to know who allowed people to live near such a "potentially hazardous and dangerous heap."

Museveni ordered payments to the victims' families of 5 million Ugandan shillings ($1,300; €1,169) for each fatality and 1 million shillings for each injured person.

Eight months ago, Lukwago, who is also ceremonial head of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), described the situation at the landfill as a "national crisis."

Following the incident, however, many local residents said that they had long complained to authorities that the Kiteezi landfill was a danger and caused local pollution , but they had done little to help. 

Proscovia Nabafu, a 44-year-old mother of four, was forced to pack up her and her children’s belongings and leave their home for safety. They have been staying with relatives, and authorities have put yellow cordon tape around the home they fled.

"All the people who live within the cordon have to clear their houses because it's dangerous," she said, adding that although the Ugandan government promised to compensate them, they desperately need a place to call home.

"They have ordered us to leave, and, as you can see, they prefer the garbage to their own people. They are not fair," Nabafu lamented. 

Uganda's 'inefficient' waste management system

Around 2,500 tons of waste are produced daily in Kampala, of which about 1,200 tons are collected by garbage trucks. The rest is either incinerated or ends up in the city's drainage systems.

Uganda's lack of waste separation means that everything from banana peels to electronic waste ends up in the Kiteezi landfill, which has for decades served as Kampala's only waste dump.

The Kiteezi 36-acre (14-hectare) dump was created in 1996 as a hole between three hills, according to local media. Trucks would drive up one of the hills to dump waste, which would then end up sliding down the slope.

Uganda's shadow foreign affairs minister, Nkunyingi Muwada, the area's representative in parliament, criticized the government after the landslide incident.

"Instead of resettling people, the landfill needs effective management," he told news agency AFP. "It must be designed so that it does not endanger people."

He wants the government to launch a thorough investigation into the causes of this disaster. The lawmaker belongs to the National Unity Party (NUP), the opposition group of musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.   

No mattresses and not enough to eat

After the tragedy, the Red Cross erected white tents in the nearby Kiteezi elementary school courtyard, where around 120 people, most of them children, took shelter. 

"We have launched appeals for donations," said John Cliff Wamala from the Red Cross in Uganda. "There is a shortage of mattresses, hygiene products for women and diapers for children."

While salvage work continues, the garbage dump has been officially closed, and trucks are no longer allowed to dump waste there.

Authorities have redirected garbage trucks to a landfill 30 kilometers (around 19 miles) away in Entebbe. However, this dump is near Lake Victoria, prompting environmentalists and the Wildlife Protection Authority to warn that garbage water could  contaminate the lake .

They have called for an urgent long-term solution.