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Daily Monitor Uganda: It’s an uphill task moving giraffes in Murchison F...: The giraffes and the Uganda Wildlife Authority translocation crew get on the ferry at Paraa to cross to the southern bank. Photos by Gillian...

A day out with awesome Mountain gorillas

By Jossy Muhangi (email the author)
Sunday Monitor April 25,2010


Posted Sunday, April 25 2010 at 00:00
It was a hit and miss affair whether I would actually see the gorillas but
thanks to two cheerful and confident trackers, I was able to have a memorable
Easter Monday with man’s closest relatives, writes Jossy Muhangi
It is Easter Monday morning. I have taken a sojourn to Bwindi Impenetrable
National Park in Southwestern Uganda, a leading destination for local and
international tourists thirsty for interacting with the rare mountain gorillas.
Iprepare myself mentally and physically for piercing through the tangled
vegetation and the slippery meandering trails along the steep-sided-rugged
ridges of the forest, in search of at least one family of the rare gentle
beasts.
John and Charles, the cheerful and confident trackers who monitor the movements
of the gorilla groups, assure me that they spotted some gorillas constructing
nests the previous evening and that they must have spent the night in the
vicinity of the national park office block at Buhoma. “But, gorillas being what
they are, they might wake up at sunrise and trek deeper into the forest in
search of their favourite food beyond the ridges and valleys,” remarked Charles,
pointing at adjacent ridges.
But as soon as we hit the jungle behind the park office premises, the two
trackers wielding mini machetes they use to create the trails through the
thicket, one of them spots the footmarks of an adult gorilla and quickly
observes that it must have wandered off from the rest of the group, if not a
solitary individual.
As we retreat a bit to consider another direction, there is a sudden grunt from
what the tracker says is the dominant male gorilla - the silverback, signalling
that the gentle beasts are within our reach. John, the tracker, grins with
excitement and confidence that the sound has come from Mwirima, the dark-faced
leader of the Rushegura group which comprises 19 members, among them five adult
females, several juveniles, infants and sub adults. The group is called
Rushegura because it separated from a bigger one called Habinyanja on
Valentine’s Day of 2002, at a place called Rushegura.
The tracker responds to the grunting vocalisation with some non-verbal
communication, which he tells me is an assurance to the gorillas that it is
their usual human friends and not enemies approaching. He also says the grunting
from the silverback is a polite warning to whoever is approaching their
territory, having heard the footsteps and human voices.
Without a moment’s delay, we head in the right direction for a misty spot under
the canopy of towering trees occupied by the gorillas, which are enjoying their
breakfast with such gusto. On seeing two infants engaged in what appears like a
wrestling game under the close watch of two adult males assuming the role of
umpires, I almost forget the caution of observing at least 15 feet away from the
feeding group until a Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) tracker warns that a
silverback is keenly watching and taking charge of “everyone’s” security.
On close identification of their nose prints and body sizes, the trackers tell
me the infants are the babies of Karungi and Kirinvi, while the
babysitters/umpires are Kalembeezi and Kanywani. Kanywani, (Rukiga for
friendly), is known for being playful and giving company to infant gorillas, but
is equally watchful and protects them against danger.
On the other hand, Kalembeezi, (Rukiga for caring), ensures the welfare and
comfort of the infants is not compromised. In fact, Kalembeezi mesmerises the
visitors by the magical way he carries the infants by strapping them sideways
onto his laps. Infants usually ride on their mothers’ backs or perch on their
abdomen as the female adults walk on their stocky legs and the knuckles of their
massive long fore limbs.
According to the trackers and guides here, Kalembeezi is the third in command
after Kabukojo, another healthy sub adult male that is soon graduating into a
blackback. The two assist the silverback, Mwirima, by providing side security
and acting as sentries. Indeed, on this Easter Monday, the two ensure all the
members have left one area to another during their feeding spree by trailing
their colleagues, led by the silverback.
Spoon feeding or respect?
Another captivating sight is of the mother gorillas climbing majestically and
confidently with their babies riding on their backs to feast on fruits and
parasitic plants. Occasionally, some of the infants fall down from high up the
trees but it is hard to establish if they get injured. However, a tracker tells
me some die in such accidents when they hit their heads against hard objects
like rocks.
On this day, the silverback is curious but also generous. In spite of his
massive weight, he climbs a nearby tree with ease and picks and munches on ripe
fruits while throwing others down for the infants and juveniles. The guides, who
passionately watch this behaviour, say the subordinate members of the group, out
of respect, cannot dare follow their boss up the tree and will follow suit after
he has had his fill.
However, the adult female, Karungi, a pretty mother of infant and juvenile
daughters and said to be Mwirima’s favourite mate, comfortably follows the
silverback up the tree, her baby on her back.
Since gorillas’ human friends respect their feeding, resting and movement
itinerary, I can’t spend a longer time with the gentle creatures than I had
wished. From the trackers, I learn that later in the day, the gorillas have a
health break during which the infants and juveniles play while others rest and
some groom one another by picking foreign articles from their thick fur.
I crown my Easter Monday by taking a more than 5.6km meandering trek to the
Munyaga Waterfalls, right, serenaded by the continuous throbbing rhythm of the
river and singing birds, particularly the African Emerald Cuckoo, whose role is
to welcome visitors to the forest.

TRAVEL BY BUS ACCROSS E.AFRICA BORDERS

By Jossy Muhangi

Uganda-Travel-feature

Across East Africa aboard Akamba bus

APA-Kampala( Uganda )When the Inter Region Economic Network (IREN) Kenya selected me to attend its seventh African Resource Bank (ARB) meeting in early November,2009, to be held in Arusha , Tanzania , two prospects excited me.

One was the likelihood of a flight aboard a Kenya airways Boeing (Africa’s pride), through the ultra modern Jommo Kenyatta International Airport en-route to Kilimanjaro airport (KIA).My target was to have a clear aerial view of the snow capped Kilimanjaro mountain popularly know as the “Roof of Africa” although others call it the summit of the Black continent, being the highest in Africa at 19,341 ft .

The other prospect was of course which personalities in the academia, civil society, governance and the media. Being a resource bank meeting, I did not expect to withdraw or deposit cash there since the convener had clarified that the bank was a forum where different scholars and thinkers deposit and withdraw ideas on relevant themes affecting Africa .

Contrary to my travel expectations, the events manager wrote in bold fonts in the last paragraph that the participants were expected to find their way to the venue of the event which was Kibo Palace Hotel, a plush state of the art resort centre along Old Moshi road in the centre of Arusha town.The organizers with the support from Friedrich Norman Foundation would cater for accommodation, meals and conference materials

Unable and hesitant to raise the 300 US dollars for the return ticket as well as the cabin costs for the connection between the airport and Arusha town, I opted for the road transport.

My search on the internet indicated that there were several bus companies including the Scandinavian Express, Akamba Public Transport Company, Starways, Kampala Coach, BusCar ,Dar Express and Gateway among others.

Scrolling through the fares ,I was misled by the attractive fares offered by Akamba whose brand slogan is “Connecting East Africa”, little knowing that the rates had not been updated on the bus company website. I was later to be shocked to my nerves when I learnt that the rates had since more than doubled while the info on the website remained obsolete.

Anyhow, I was told I would spend not less than 18 hours on the road or in transit including the time spent at the two borders clearing the travel documents and connecting from a Kampala-Nairobi bound coach to he one heading for Dar es Salaam through Arusha, Moshi and Korogwe .

We set off at 3.pm through the hustle of Kampala traffic jam and by 6 p.m we were at the Uganda-Kenya border of Busia where departure forms were filled and endorsed at the Immigration points while those without passports bought temporary travel documents valid for one month.

So considerate are the long route bus companies that they provide meal coupons for all the passengers for light snacks once in Nairobi before catching the 6 a.m bus headed for Arusha through the semi arid Maasai plains and Namanga border post .

The Immigration hitch and border conmen

Since the East African countries are still using different national currencies and its is still optional either to use a national passport or the East African one, money changers are doing brisk business at the border points .By the time a rare traveler comprehends the exchange rates ,some with decimal points, some have already fallen victims of fake notes, poor calculations to the benefit of the money changer while others are conned by smart looking conmen who extort money from them purportedly for the passport stamp or visa. Formally, there is no visa requirement or any other charges for travelers within East African community states.

My hard luck struck when I discovered that the 12 year old boy I had been traveling with to visit our relatives in Arusha, had his travel document indicating he had been granted permission to visit Kenya , since it was issued at the Uganda – Kenya border and he was at the time entering Kenya .

A Kenyan Immigration officer took advantage of this omission to ask me in Kiswahili “Olimupeleka wapi” meaning where are you taking the boy. On telling him he was visiting Arusha,he insisted the travel document never indicated so. Though I argued the travel document was valid in any part of East African community, the mean looking officer ,ignored me until the queue was cleared and he openly asked me for 10,000 Tanzanian shillings to correct the anomaly which I had to part with reluctantly lest the bus rushing to Dar,500 kilometers away would leave us stranded at the border.

I also discovered that a number of my friends lost cash to the money changers while others were conned into paying more for the stamp which is free of charge.

Language barrier

While it was okay for the meeting participants to freely exchange in English, there were major problems particularly for Ugandan visitors and participants to freely communicate with the hotel staff and the rest of the community in Arusha. The commonest language is Kiswahili which in Uganda is a preserve of few people mostly the armed forces although the Kenyans had less problems getting on well with their Tanzanian neighbours .No wonder that some of us would at times use sign language to ask for certain services from the hotel staff and the business community in the chilly Arusha town which lies on the foot of Mount Meru and not far from Kilimanjaro ranges.

However, Tanzanians being one of the most hospitable communities in East Africa , they are always ready to do what it takes to assist the visitors .

Arusha is the home to the East Africa Community headquarters currently housed at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) along the East Africa Road . The gigantic structure also houses the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) trying the 1994 Rwanda genocide suspects as well as the East African Business Council.

It has become an international diplomatic town with most of the peace talks and deals between warring countries negotiated here , as well as a tourist hub surrounded by several national parks including the famous Snake Park .

end

Ritual murders

Death stalks Uganda’s children as ritual murders increase

By JOSSY MUHANGI
Published August 30, 2009Eastafricainfocus

A Ugandan businessman is standing trial before a High Court judge for allegedly procuring the ritual murder of a 12-year-old schoolboy. The businessman initially paid US$ 170 in cash and promised a further US$7300. The boy was kidnapped and beheaded last year at Kayugi village in Masaka district, central Uganda.

The businessman was initially co-charged with two traditional witchdoctors whose shrines are said to be used for such rituals.

The murder of this schoolboy is one of many now routinely reported in the Ugandan media. Often, such rituals are related to promises of wealth, warding off bad luck and successful completion of mega construction projects including roads and commercial blocks. In western Uganda, for example, a middle-aged man is in detention for parading his own son for sale.

According to police reports, about three cases of ritual murders were reported in 2007 but they rose to 18 last year. The situation got worse this year prompting the state to set up a special division of the police to investigate, prosecute and crack down on the vice.

The police suggest the ritual murders seem to have taken a new twist with middle-men hired to procure murders especially of children, who are believed to be taken to the shrines of the witchdoctors where rituals are performed to reportedly appease the underworld spirits.

The biggest suspects are companies and individuals in the roads and construction industry whose businesses have allegedly either stalled or moving sluggishly. The other rumour surrounding the rampant ritual murders reportedly involve burying of human body parts under the construction foundations and basements apparently to attract tenants and stave off stiff competition from others with similar projects.

Whatever the myths surrounding these alleged practices, Uganda is opening its eyes to the reality of superstition.

While no witchdoctor will confess to openly indulging in the vice, some of them claim that the underworld spirits do cherish human beings, allegedly preferring those without scars, circumcised genital organs or pierced ears. Consequently an informal campaign has taken off in various parts of the country, besides other precautionary measures to protect especially helpless children from being kidnapped, to intensify ear piercing for both male and female children as well as circumcising the boys. This came about from unconfirmed stories that some circumcised boys and girls with pierced ears had narrowly survived ritual murders and been let free by their captors.

Ear piercing is no longer a preserve of girls seeking extra beauty using ear pins and rings but a security measure. Yet the practice also introduces another problem- contracting HIV/Aids through sharing pins.

Meanwhile, a traditional healer only identified as Kigambo in Western Uganda claims that criminals are hiding behind the suspected ritual murders to harm their colleagues over disputes like land, property ownership and relationships going sour knowing that the witchdoctors will be the first suspects. He argues that murderers now have a tendency of dragging the bodies of their victims to places near the witchdoctors’ shrines to make them appear culpable.

The special police division created to curb ritual murders has not released results of their findings besides enforcing measures like compulsory registration of all traditional healers and witch doctors for regulation purposes, banning of the healers from advertising their exaggerated powers and advocacy campaigns to ensure safety of the children. It is now hoped that the expedited trial of the suspects currently accused of the murder and the stiffness of the resultant penalties, should they be found guilty, will act as a deterrent to those engaging in the vice.

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Reach Jossy Muhangi at editor@eafricainfocus.com

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BIO TECHNOLOGY

Biotechnology: Africa’s Hope for Food Security and Improved Health

Jossy Muhangi

- ADVERTISEMENT -

GM crops could boost food production and reduce hunger crisis in Africa. Uganda’s researchers in bio-technologies are convinced that successful implementation of Genetically Modified (GM) crop production would boost food production and end the hunger crisis bedeviling most countries in Africa today. In Uganda, over 40 out of 83 districts are currently facing a threat of hunger following persistent droughts, floods and crop disease strains like cassava mosaic and bacterial banana wilt.

The experts currently meeting at the Lake Victoria shore colonial town of Entebbe say that Africa needs to adopt biotechnology in order to feed its starving population in view of stagnating agricultural productivity, harsh effects of climate change and a growing population.

Figures available at the Uganda’s ministry of Health indicate that malnutrition is widespread with more than 36 percent of children under three years and 10 percent of mothers in Uganda suffering from chronic under-nutrition.

Millions of small holder farmers in Africa can no longer grow enough food to sustain their families, communities or their countries leading to recurrent food crises on the continent, according to Uganda’s minister of state for Agriculture Lt. Col. Bright Rwamirama .He says that pests, disease and unpredictable climate conditions have made large scale production untenable in Uganda.

South Africa, Egypt and Burkina Faso have started commercial use of GMs while others like Uganda are carrying out field trials. Some countries like Zambia have vehemently refused to embrace biotechnology.

Dr. Mark Rosegrant, the director of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI’s) Environment and Production Technology Division says that in the coming years, growing populations, stagnating agricultural productivity, and increasing climate change will make it even more difficult for Africa to tackle poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. He adds that Considerable experience suggests that biotechnology can contribute to improved food production and quality in developing countries. Moreover, crop traits currently in the development pipeline—including drought and heat tolerance—are of particular value to African farmers.

Through continued research, IFPRI hopes to provide more information about genetically modified crops and their potential to benefit smallholder farmers and improve the lives of other poor people throughout Africa.

“To confront these challenges, many African countries are increasingly assessing a range of tools and technologies, including agricultural biotechnologies, which hold great promise for improving crop yields, household incomes, and the nutritional quality of food in an environmentally sustainable way,” argues the expert.

Research presented at the ongoing conference, shows that in delaying the approval of GM fungal-resistant banana, Uganda foregoes potential benefits ranging from about US$179 million to US$365 million a year.

According to IFPRI analysis, expansion in the adoption of GM crops could also significantly lower the price of food in developing countries by 2050. Realizing these benefits, however, depends on acceptance by farmers, public awareness and consumer preferences, regulatory and market issues, and strong political will, including the willingness to invest in new technology.

According to experts, deciding whether or not to make GM crops a priority in their agricultural development and food and nutrition security strategies and invest in modern biotechnology is an important consideration for many African countries. Dr. Rosegrant says that by bringing social scientists and decision makers together, the first-of-its-kind conference aims to bridge the gap between policy and research, and provide solid information and evidence on which sound choices and investments related to GM technology can be made.

To help inform such policy decisions, conference participants are sharing research findings that address critical questions, including, What are the potential economic gains and drawbacks of GM crops, especially for poor, rural households, What obstacles prevent smallholder farmers from gaining access to and successfully using GM technology, and how can these constraints be overcome and the lessons to be learned from other developing countries, such as South Africa, China, and India, where GM crops are already being commercially grown by smallholder farmers.

Improving of policymaking to ease the dissemination and commercialization of agricultural biotechnologies as well as the regional and international trade implications of growing GM crops in Africa will also be discussed in the three day event.

“Managing the opportunities and risks posed by GM crops, including trade-related challenges, requires countries to have well-functioning, efficient, and responsible biosafety systems,” says Dr. Margaret Karembu, director of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter in Nairobi, where the Kenya Biosafety Bill became law in February 2009, joining Mali and Togo, which enacted national biosafety legislation in 2008.

“These countries’ experiences offer useful lessons for other African countries working to develop biosafety policies, including the increased potential to benefit from proven research and help smallholder farmers with limited resources gain access to agricultural bio-technologies and successfully use them,” she added.

The conference under the theme “Delivering Agricultural Biotechnology to African Farmers: Linking Economic Research to Decision Making,” is organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in collaboration with the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology and the Science Foundation for Livelihoods and Development.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI is one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations.

By Jossy Muhangi
Journalist - Uganda

TB is manageable,treatable and preventable

News: Mbarara finally chases TB 
Jossy Muhangi
The Daily Monitor
22 March 2006
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Uganda - Once a very congested place, the TB ward at Mbarara hospital will soon start handling other medical cases, following a new system where patients are diagnosed and referred to local health centres for treatment

It appears strange yet it is true. Mbarara University Teaching Hospital's Tuberculosis (TB) ward which up to recently has been notorious for over congestion with chronic patients is today virtually empty. According to the director of Health Services for Mbarara district, Dr. Amooti Kaguna, they "have decongested, let alone depopulated the TB ward at the main hospital. The ward will soon be transformed to accommodate other medical cases".

Kaguna attributes this situation to the adoption and implementation of a system/strategy known as Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS), which involves a downward referral of TB patients who are diagnosed and sent to the local health centres for treatment.

The system entails sending patients to their home locations where they are accessed by health workers from health centres with the TB drugs. In turn, a volunteer, not necessarily a health personnel is selected and assigned to monitor the administration of these TB drugs to the patients at the right times and ensure completion of the eight-month dosage.

This development which is also implemented in neighbouring Kenyan diagnostic and treatment facilities, has led to decongestion of the TB wards where affected cases would lie for several months bearing extra costs of feeding and facing the inadequate space hazards.

Kaguna says that last year, 3,550 cases were detected through health centres which examine sputum and X-ray examinations (specimen) to screen for TB in greater Mbarara which entails the four new districts carved out recently. Of these however, about 2,056 were identified for treatment and management while the rest remained untouched in the communities which represents about 40 percent.

Kaguna however said the prevalence rate has gradually been going down due to consistent intervention and support from the donors particularly the German Association of Leprosy and TB Relief Primary health care Funds and the Global fund contributions.

In 2005, the National TB/Leprosy allocated Mbarara district Shs116m for drugs procurement, the German Leprosy Relief Association gave Shs2.5m for allowances and other programme activities, the Global Fund contributed Shs12m and the Primary Health Care gave Shs700,000, thus a total of 132m for the entire programme.

With this support, the programme has not run short of TB drugs in recent times while Leprosy has become history. Kaguna says only two cases of leprosy were detected last year, one from Kyenjojo district and another in the refugee camp located in newly created Isingiro district.

He adds that the policy of screening HIV patients for TB and vice versa has also contributed to management of Tuberculosis which affects the lungs, bones and other parts of the body.

He however laments that there are limited centres which do counselling and testing for HIV/TB. In fact, it is only at the Aids Information centre (AIC) where HIV suspects are also screened for TB.

In all, the greater Mbarara has only eight counselling and testing centres. Of the 150 health centres including five hospitals and several health centres at constituency, sub-county and parish levels, only 62 centres have integrated services to include diagnosing and treating TB components.

He however said the situation has improved as most of the patients get screened at the main hospital and are sent back to the Community-Based Health DOTS (CBH) for management. All the sub-counties have got the CBH-DOTS facilities, according to Kaguna.

He said of the affected cases, 60 percent are men, 38 percent women and about 5 percent children. He attributed the higher rates in men to their level of predisposition, lifestyles including heavy drinking and working in congested communities among other risk factors. He identified some of the most affected areas as Rwampara, Bukanga and Ibanda counties.

Besides the health centres with integrated services, there are 24 diagnostic centres where TB patients can be examined. However, these are not evenly distributed and are located mostly in urban centres.

Although the anti TB programme boasts of adequate drugs and reduced prevalence rates, it is faced with a number of challenges that slow its pace and desired targets. Kaguna said the programme lacks sufficient trained personnel to monitor and implement the activities. He said there is need for enough clinicians especially at lower levels who take the drugs to the communities and identify volunteers to administer the drugs. And where there are staff, they lack adequate means of transport to traverse their areas of operation including reviewing the patients' situations.

There is also lack of enough equipment and reagents for testing the cases though the drugs are sufficient unless the health workers have not ordered in time. The adherence rate is yet another challenge to health workers as many patients rarely complete the doses according to prescription in the right times and amounts over long periods.  According to Kaguna, the compliance rate has been at 55 percent and defaulting rate at 45 percent.

Defaulting leads to Drug resistance and an infected patient may have to start the dose all over again with stronger medication. Currently, the anti TB drugs are only provided by the government while private hospitals access it from government departments free of charge. Another challenge has been stigma about the disease which is closely associated
with HIV/Aids.

Estimates show that 60 percent of HIV patients have TB (hidden or obvious) while 48 percent of TB patients have HIV. In spite of the intensive sensitisation of the communities that TB is preventable, manageable and curable, a number of the affected do not show up to utilise available opportunities and services.

Yet another problem is that of migratory populations which makes it difficult to follow them up. However, there are regular collaborative meetings through which those moving within neighbouring districts can be tracked, Kaguna explained.

Health workers here have a vision of having at least 100 diagnostic centres in the near future from the current 24, detecting at least 75 percent of the affected cases and treating about 85 percent of them. He said last year, of the 2,056 identified patients, 55 percent completed treatment.  They also wish to intensify the follow up programme, collaboration with neighbouring counterparts and community sensitisation.

Online at: http://www.monitor.co.ug/socpol/socpol03221.php

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Stay connected - Speak your world!

A posting from Stop-TB (stop-tb@eforums.healthdev.org)

solid waste management

Jossy Muhangi March 13 Mbarara makes headway in solid waste management

Environmental and health hazards currently bedeviling Mbarara Municipality and six other urban authorities in the country could gradually be surmounted when a World bank funded project that will provide a garbage compositor and collection trucks take off.

With Mbarara Municipality population generating over 150 tons of solid waste per day part of which is collected by trucks for dumping at a site in Kenkombe ,Kakoba division thereby degrading the land and polluting the air in the vicinity, the construction of a compositor which turns solid waste into manure is expected to greatly check the hazardous impact on the neighbouring communities . The garbage that has been a menace will also turn into a blessing as its product once its turned into manure will help generate some income when it is sold to the farming community.

While the long time vision for Mbarara Municipality leadership is to achieve a city status, it has been grappling with solid waste disposal which would be aggravated by the increased population occasioned by the territorial expansion and more attractive services.

But the chief township officer Mbarara Municipality David Naluwayiro Kigenyi discloses that with assistance from the environment watchdog the National Environment Management Authority(NEMA),a project worth 400 million Uganda shillings is being implemented to help seven municipalities and two town councils to partly overcome the garbage disposal problem. Besides Mbarara, other prospective beneficiaries are Lira,Masaka,Jinja,Soroti ,Fort Portal and Mbale municipalities plus the town councils of Mukono and Kasese.

The project site will also benefit from a six kilometer extension of piped water with the help of National water and sewerage corporation from which the neighbouring community will benefit. Kigenyi says the NEMA coordinated project has contributed a refuse collecting truck and 20 collection skips while in the subsequent phase the ministry of local government has promised to provide another truck.

The Mbarara Municipal environment officer Herbert Tumwebaze says the sites at which solid waste is collected and dumped suffers the environment and health hazards through the degrading of land and air pollution. He says the refuse from the unsorted garbage litters and contaminates the neighbouring water sources .

Councilors who represent the area where the dumping site is located cry foul of the nasty smell and pollution of the atmosphere but are optimistic the new project will mitigate the adverse effects .

The township officer Mr. Kigenyi reveals that about 17m shillings is spent per month on collection of the solid waste by the trucks in the municipality. Part of it is collected directly by the council trucks and another part is managed by private contractors .

He attributes the ever rising solid waste problem to an increasing population a big percentage of which is poor which does not appreciate the desire for beauty and standards. All the majority of the town dwellers care about is their survival and it is difficult to change their negative attitude .He wonders why some town dwellers for instance in their own wisdom choose to throw their solid waste on the surface even when the skips are half empty.

On the government policies, Kigenyi feels the implementation of our environment laws is weak compared to neighbouring Rwanda where authorities are strict with dumping of polythene and plastic materials.

Mbarara’s Resident District commissioner Clement Kandole also agrees with Kigenyi on the ambiguity of Ugandan laws on environment. He wonders for instance how an ordinary person is expected to comprehend the difference in gauges of the polythene materials in terms of microns yet it could be more realistic to say impose a ban on all polythene materials.

With proper implementation of the solid waste management project, active involvement of the stake holders including the communities neighbouring the dumping site and continued awareness on sustainability of the project, the environment related hazards in Mbarara and other towns could be history .

End