Victory for Workers: PSI Uganda Affiliates Drive Change in Waste Management Leadership and Policy
Dec 5, 2024
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PSI affiliates in Uganda successfully campaigned for improved waste management, leading to the removal of top KCCA leadership following the Kiteezi landfill tragedy in August 2024.
The campaign involved strategic engagement with stakeholders, including unions, parliamentarians, and mayors, highlighting issues of poor working conditions and inadequate waste management infrastructure.
The outcome resulted in presidential action to dismiss three top KCCA officials and renewed commitment to establish a special waste management fund and comprehensive national policy.
PSI affiliates in Uganda campaign led to the removal of Kampala Capital City Authority leadership due to poor waste management.
PSI affiliates in Uganda participating the in project titled “ Promoting Transparency and Decent Work in Supply Chains in Electricity, Water and Waste Services in Sub-Sahara Africa” sponsored by DGB have continued to hold concerted engagement with various policies makers on how to improve quality public services within the three sectors since 2020.
In 2022, the unions included Uganda Electricity and Allied Workers Union (UEWAU); Uganda Public Employees Union (UPEU); and Uganda Local Government Workers Union (ULGWU) undertook benchmarking exercise across the sectors which was crowned with provision of PPEs to waste workers in two different places that included Mbale Municipality and Namutumba town council. That same year, the unions that were able to lobby successfully in conjunction with civil society actors the renationalisation of the electricity sector that was unbundled in 2005 due to structural adjustments programmes that forced many countries in developing countries to liberalise their energy sector.
The waste management sector in Uganda has been characterised by poor waste management, lack of coherent approach to the sector management, diverse players etc. waste management importance to the public health in the Uganda and its ripple effect to other sectors of the economy including access to quality water and electricity has always been underscored in several meetings and engagement since the start of the project in 2020.
In 2023, the affiliated unions undertook to have strategic engagements with different stakeholders with an aim of finding solutions to the challenges faced by the sector including lack of contract for the employees, poor working conditions, low salaries, lack and inadequate equipment to handle the waste in the country including a coherent approach to management of waste in the country. On the 17th August, Kiteezi landfill collapsed killing several people. This was a tragedy that reminded the country about its current poor waste management including attention paid to the sector. It was a wake up call! The tragedy attracted global media attention.
On the 23rd September 2024, the PSI affiliates held an engagement with various divisional and municipal mayors of major towns and cities in the country. Invited to the meeting were the members of parliament who sit on the natural resources and environmental committee, civil society organisations and the Kampala Capital City Authority officials. The main aim of the meeting was to make a follow up and have constructive dialogue with the policy makers on challenges and important contribution of workers in finding solution to the menace of poor waste management. The workers representative decried the poor pay, harassment, lack of PPEs, delayed payment by the KCCA authority without due regard to their dignity. The meeting participants agreed that waste management was not a political issue but public health issue that concerns every citizen of the country and should be treated as an urgent national issue. Leaders agreed to collaborate to find a better solution that will shift from landfill in the future to a more sustainable method of waste management in the country.
There were several calls for the sacking of top leadership of the KCCA authority for negligence and corruption accusations that had paralysed the proper management of waste sector. More than 20 divisional and municipal mayors attended the meeting. The members of parliamentary committee agreed to push for a special fund to be created to cater for waste management in the country. The workers representative called upon the elected leaders to provide decent work environment for waste management workers. The KCCA representative in the meeting was called to order having claimed that waste workers were not workers but mere cleaners.
The calls for the sacking of the KCCA leadership was headed by the President of republic of Uganda who sacked three top officials of the City Authority and directed for their prosecution following implications in a number of scandals, negligence and mismanagement of waste in the capital city on the 24th September 2024 a day after the engagement.
Kampala capital city generates approximately 2000-2500 tonnes of waste per day with the capacity to collect between 1300-1500 tonnes per day showing the gaps in waste management and challenges this pose to the society. The meeting agreed to have a follow up meeting with the top government offices to escalate the need for special funds towards waste management and propose a comprehensive policy on waste management for the entire country. The stakeholder engagement was captured by different media house in Uganda. See the links below: