Hindawi

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

Volume 2020, Article ID 4754780, 10 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/4754780

Research Article
Corruption and Solid Waste Management in Mbarara
Municipality, Uganda

Pius Gumisiriza and Sylvester Kugonza

School of Civil Service, Public Administration and Governance, Uganda Management Institute, P.O. Box 20131,
Kampala, Uganda

Correspondence should be addressed to Pius Gumisiriza; piusgumisiriza@yahoo.com

Received 14 June 2019; Revised 9 November 2019; Accepted 23 January 2020; Published 29 June 2020

Academic Editor: Stefano Capolongo

Copyright © 2020 Pius Gumisiriza and Sylvester Kugonza. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.

Mbarara Municipality in Western Uganda has for many years struggled to manage municipal solid waste. Leaders in this
municipality have mainly attributed this persistent problem to poor financing, failure to enforce existing solid waste management
laws and regulations, limited community participation, deprived attitude by the public towards waste collection, and tendency of
municipal dwellers to litter. No in-depth academic study in Mbarara Municipality has ever been done to expose and illustrate how
corruption directly happens and influence solid waste management. This study fills this knowledge gap by illustrating how
corruption influences poor solid waste management in Mbarara Municipality. The study finds that municipal technical officials,
garbage truck drivers, their turn boys, garbage sorters, factory owners, and private land grabbers all involved in different forms of
corruption have directly and indirectly turned solid waste collection and disposal into a very costly problem to the municipal
council and the general public. The article recommends that fighting corruption in all its forms without fear or favor, encouraging
them to play their role particularly in sorting waste, adoption of smart technologies, and putting in place measures that attract
private investors while protecting the public can help in the effective management of solid waste in Mbarara Municipality.

1. Introduction public and private provision of solid waste collection services

in Kampala also revealed that city officials use solid waste as a
Increased municipal solid waste production is a natural cash cow to milk public money for their own benefits. In
consequence of urbanisation, economic, and population Mbarara municipality, angry residents have for years pro-
growth [1]. Unlike cities/towns in developed countries which tested about corruption and sordid solid waste management
have effective mechanism for managing municipal solid challenges [18–23]. However, no academic study has been
waste, those in developing countries face huge challenges undertaken to understand the nature and magnitude of
[2–6]. Indeed, in Uganda, municipal solid waste is very huge corruption embedded within the solid waste management
challenge in almost all the cities/municipalities [7]. Most processes in this municipality a gap filled by this research
studies and media reports in Uganda have attributed the article.
problem to poor financing, failure to enforce existing waste
management laws, political interferences, lack of community 2. Mbarara Municipality and Solid
participation, poor attitude by the public towards waste Waste Problems
collection, inadequate planning, and people’s tendency to
throw garbage anywhere including environmentally sensitive Mbarara Municipality is located in Mbarara district,
areas [8–13]. Studies/media in other parts of the world have southwestern Uganda, 266 kilometers from Kampala the
also indicated that corruption can be a huge hindrance to capital city. It has been growing very fast in the last two
effective management of municipal solid waste [14–16]. decades and is currently the biggest town in the western
Katusiimeh et al. [17] in their study on the effectiveness of region. The municipality has a total land area of about 51.47
2 Journal of Environmental and Public Health

sq. kms and had a total population of 195,160 as of the 2014 250
national population census. It is made up of three divisions
of Kakoba, Kamukuzi, and Nyamitanga [24]. In 2005, 200
Mbarara Municipality became one of the beneficiaries of a
US$ 300,000 National Environmental Management 150
Authority–World Bank Solid Waste Composting Plant
Project meant to convert organic waste into compost ma- 100
nure [25]. According to the terms of this project, all the
municipal solid waste generated in Mbarara Municipality 50
was supposed to be dumped at the 114-acre Kenkombe land
in Rwentondo Cell, Kakoba Ward. This land owned by the
0
council is located approximately seven kilometers from Waste generated Waste generated Uncollected waste
Mbarara town Center. The Municipal Council was supposed in 2006 in 2018 in 2018
to provide the overall project implementation and man-
Figure 1: Waste generated and uncollected/collected.
agement functions including placement of skips on specified
garbage collection points, mobilization of households, and
community based and local nongovernmental organisations solid waste comes with serious consequences including
to ensure effective waste sorting by its generators and proper environmental degradation (soil, surface, and ground water
disposal into the skips. The council was also mandated to pollution), respiratory problems, and human diseases, such
contract commendable private companies to carry out waste as cholera and diarrhea, harms animals that consume waste
collection and delivery to the solid waste composting plant at unknowingly, and affects the poor most [1, 30–33]. This
Rwentondo for processing and production, as well as article exposes the nature and influence of corruption
marketing of the produced manure. For project sustain- embedded in the Mbarara municipality waste management
ability purposes, communities were supposed to actively process with an overall aim of reducing corruption and
participate in on-site sorting of waste, play a key role in properly managing solid waste in this town and others in
monitoring house-to-house waste collection, and pay five Uganda.
hundred shillings (500/�) per month for the service. The
market assessment and analysis conducted revealed that
3. Material and Methods
there was already a market for the compost manure if it was
reasonably priced [26]. 3.1. Data Sources. This article is built on both secondary and
Despite the above comprehensive plans, angry residents primary qualitative data obtained from various credible
of Rwemigyina and Kenkombe villages that border this open sources. Secondary data was obtained from Mbarara Mu-
garbage-dumping site started complaining about the nicipal Council reports (obtained with permission) and
stinking garbage, aborted foetuses, and huge volumes of academic and newspaper articles as reflected in the refer-
leachate that found its way in the nearby Rwentondo stream ences. Qualitative primary data was collected from 38
as early as 2006 and the problem continued [27, 28]. In 2005, purposively sampled key informants who in one way or
the town was generating and collecting around 30 tons of another have been involved in or affected by solid waste
solid waste per day [26]. By the end of 2018, the amount of management issues in Mbarara municipality, as detailed in
solid waste generated had skyrocketed to over 200 tons per Table 1.
day which is a very significant increase [9]. Many written
reports have revealed that over 30% of the over 200 tons of
waste generated in Mbarara Municipality per day remains 3.2. Data Collection Techniques. Corruption is a very
uncollected, unprocessed, or dumped in inappropriate sensitive and complex practice which manifests in many
places [19, 21, 22]. As illustrated by the graph below, it is ways in different environments [34, 35]. Many respon-
observable that there have been very sharp increases in the dents that may be involved or know people involved in
amount of waste generated. It is also clear that the amount of corruption may not easily or freely give accurate infor-
solid waste that remains uncollected per day increased very mation on the problem. To overcome this challenge, the
significantly in the last 10–13 years. In fact, it is double researchers used different techniques to collect accurate
the amount of the solid waste that was generated in 2006 data. First, the questions posed to some respondents
(Figure 1). particularly garbage truck drivers, turn boys, sorter, and
These claims are exemplified by a lot of photographic farmers did not directly refer to their practices as corrupt.
evidence taken by the researchers during data collection for They were mainly asked about how they sort garbage,
this study and pictures taken by other reporters on the where they transport it, how much money is involved per
problem as illustrated in Figure 2. ton, and how it is paid and shared. Similarly farmers were
Angry residents of Mbarara have for years complained asked about where they buy the compostable garbage
about environmental, sanitation, and health problems as a from, how they buy it, who they give the money, and how
consequence of mismanaged municipal solid waste much is paid per skip. It was the researchers who compare
[18–23, 29]. Their complaints are indeed with merit as many this data with Mbarara municipality rules and procedures
other studies have clearly documented that poorly managed to establish what practices constituted corruption as
Journal of Environmental and Public Health 3

Figure 2: Uncollected waste in different parts of Mbarara Municipality.

Table 1: Sampling methods and selected key informants.

Category of respondents Number interviewed
Municipal level politicians 3
Municipal level technocrats 2
Division level politicians 3
Respondents at cell level (one from each cell considered to have an acute solid waste management problem) 10
Official working at the Kenkombe solid waste treatment plant 1
Garbage truck drivers 1
Market vendor leaders 3
Garbage sorters 5
Farmers who have bought the garbage 9

discussed in the findings. Secondly, for other respondents as it relates to solid waste in the town, how it is perpet-
who were aware of, but not necessarily participants in, uated, the key actors, and possible remedies. Data on these
corrupt practices and free to talk about them, they were different themes was collected using semistructured in-
asked to share what they think of corruption particularly terview questionnaires/guides.
4 Journal of Environmental and Public Health

3.3. Date Collection Dates and Language Used. Data collec- 3.5.2. Corrupt Selling of Sorted Garbage. All the garbage
tion interviews were undertaken between 8th and 20th May (both compostable and noncompostable) collected in dif-
2019, by two researchers (the authors of this article) in the ferent parts of the municipality is supposed to be transported
local language spoken in the area (Runyankole) and later to the solid waste processing plant at Kenkombe in Kakoba
transcribed in English. On average, each interview took Division [26]. The divisions’ pay for the transportation costs
between 30 minutes and an hour to execute. (drivers and fuel), while the municipal council provides the
trucks, covers the repair costs of trucks and pay workers at
the dumping/processing site. At the processing plant,
3.4. Ethical Considerations. The entire research process was noncompostable solid waste such as scrap metal, plastic
conducted with due respect to ethical considerations par- bottles, and other plastics are separated and later sold to
ticularly keeping informants identity confidential. The re- dealers involved in this business. Noncompostable solid
searchers obtained informed consent of all respondents waste which may be of no further value is supposed to be put
before their participation in the study. For those whose into the landfill. The compostable garbage is further pro-
identities are openly identified, it was done with their in- cessed into manure and sold to community users at Ushs
formed consent. Primary data was triangulated with in- 70,000 (US$ 18.6) (excluding transport) per ton. This money
formation obtained from secondary sources to come up with is supposed to be deposited on the municipal council bank
a nonnumerical analysis and article. account and is expected to cover most of the municipal solid
waste management costs such as truck repairs, fuel, salaries
for drivers, and garbage sorters (interview, Principal Medical
3.5. Presentations of Study Findings. Different corrupt actors Officer of Health (PMOH) Mbarara Municipality, 9 May
perpetuate different forms of corruption which also affect 2019). However, the finding in this study revealed that very
solid waste management in different ways in Mbarara little compostable garbage reaches the solid waste dumping/
municipality as synthesized in Table 2 for easy under- processing plant at Kenkombe (interview, Site Manager,
standing and explained later. Kenkombe Solid Waste Dumping Site, 14 May 2019). In-
stead, it is usually sorted by a few informally hired people at
the collection points (interview, Garbage Sorters on Rwe-
3.5.1. Bureaucratic Corruption by Mbarara Municipal bikoona Market, Kamukuzi Division, 17 May 2019) and
Officials. After the 2016 presidential elections, President directly sold by garbage truck drivers to farmers at different
Museveni promised the country that he was going to defeat prices (a skip of sorted compostable garbage is usually
public corruption which he mainly blamed on disoriented bought at Ushs 40,000–60,000 including transport) (inter-
public officials. In December 2018, Museveni created a new views with 10 farmers in Ngaara, Rwarire, and Kibingo
Anticorruption Unit within State House headed by, Lt. Col. villages in Katoojo Parish, Nyakayojo Subcounty (all these
Edith Nakalema was mandated to investigate, expose, and have bought this garbage manure from the drivers several
fight corruption in the country. In January 2019, the Unit times), 12 May 2019). The garbage truck drivers, their turn
earnestly started its work and has so far investigated and boys, garbage sorters, and some senior officials in the mu-
exposed several public corruption scandals especially in nicipal Environment department share the money generated
district/municipal local governments. On February 24, 2019, from this illegal sale of organic garbage (manure) (inter-
acting on tip-offs from whistleblowers, the Unit conducted views, Key Informants, 13 May 2019) (Table 3).
an impromptu investigation in Mbarara Municipality and As illustrated in Table 3, garbage truck drivers mainly
arrested several officials over allegation of corruption. Those focus on collecting and transporting this kind of garbage to
arrested included the Municipal Procurement Officer, the people who can afford to pay them irrespective of the dis-
Municipal Physical Planner, the Internal Auditor, and the tance involved since the fuel and truck repairs are met by
Municipal Engineer. The arrests were for corruption scan- divisions and the municipal council (interviews, Key In-
dals related to illegal sale of public land, falsification of formants, 13 May 2019). They also put most of their efforts in
documents, inflating procurement costs, direct embezzle- places such as markets which generate a lot of saleable/
ment of public procurement funds, and false accounting compostable garbage while residential areas and places
which all ran into hundreds of millions of shillings [36]. whose garbage skips take a long time to fill take a very long
While the unearthed corruption scandals were not directly time to have them collected resulting in littering (interviews,
related to solid waste management it can be argued that it is Key Informants, in Kakoba and Nyamitanga Division, 14
such kind of money that if properly utilized would help fund May 2019). This was evidenced by the researchers also re-
some of the waste management operations such as procuring flected in the picture in Figure 3 taken in the Kakyeka area of
skips and repairing garbage trucks (interview, Chairman, Kamukuzi division:
Nyamitanga Division 11, May 2019). Two of the three very Because the compostable solid waste is illegally and
old garbage trucks owned by the Municipal Council broke corruptly sold before reaching the processing plant, it is
down over six months ago and have remained unrepaired usually the nonuseful waste such as children used pampers,
because of lack of money and, as a consequence, most of the polythene bags, small pieces of charcoal, broken glasses,
garbage remains uncollected (interview, Principal Medical wood scrap from carpentry workshops, very low value metal
Officer of Health (PMOH) Mbarara Municipality, 9 May scrap, and plastic bottles among others that find their way to
2019; Rwebikoona Market Vendors leader, 10 May 2019). the composting and landfill site (Int. Site Manager,
Journal of Environmental and Public Health 5

Table 2: Corrupt actors, nature of corruption, and impact on waste management.

Corrupt actors Nature of corruption Impact on waste management
Results in direct loss of revenue for the council as the
money generated is taken by drivers, sorters, and turn
Driver, turn boys, boys and increased costs from truck breakdowns and
Illegal sale of sorted garbage
and garbage sorters fuel. Neglecting collection of garbage from which they
can extract corrupt profits causes garbage overflowing in
some areas
The hundreds of millions of lost public money could be
used to buy garbage trucks and skips, hire more workers,
Illegal sale of public land, falsification of documents,
pay for repairs, and even acquire more land in different
Bureaucrats inflating procurement costs, direct embezzlement of
divisions for dumping garbage. Most of these are not
public procurement funds, false accounting
done because money and other resources are corruptly
utilized
Foiled the much needed investment in waste
Land grabbers Encroached and grabbed dumping site land management as investors could not build plant on
contested land.
Inadequate supervision of driver’s means that they focus
on collecting what is easy to sell and ignore the
unprofitable garbage making some areas suffer from
Inadequate supervision of workers (drivers, turn boys,
garbage. This has also allowed drivers to transport
and sorters); inadequate monitoring of factory/hospital
Politicians garbage to far distances costing council a lot of money in
owners; refuse to enforce Mbarara municipality waste
fuel and frequent truck break down. Inadequate
management byelaws for their own political reasons
supervision or taking of bribes from factory/hospital
operators has resulted in indiscriminate dumping of
deadly industrial and medical waste.
Dump their industrial/medical waste in public land,
Factory/hospital
forests, or garbage skips meant for the general municipal Pollute very sensitive areas such as rivers and swamps.
owners
solid waste

Table 3: Garbage sellers, prices, and beneficiaries or losers.

Garbage sellers Prices Beneficiaries or losers
The beneficiaries of this illegal sale of manure/garbage are truck drivers,
Unauthorized garbage truck Ushs 40,000–60,000
turn boys, garbage sorters, and farmers who get manure on cheaper prices.
drivers and turn boys including transport
The loser is the taxpayer and the people whose garbage is uncollected.
The money from this sale goes to the municipal council bank accounts and
is properly budgeted for. Particularly to pay for the operations of waste
management at the dumping site. However, looking at the cost, it is more
Authorized managers at Ushs 70,000 per ton
expensive and thus attracts fewer customers given that they can get it
Kenkombe dumping site excluding transport
cheaply from garbage truck drivers. The losers in this process is the
workers at the site who get less business, council loses revenue, and the
public finally suffers with uncollected garbage

Figure 3: Uncollected garbage in Kakyeka area.

Kenkombe; interview, Kakoba Division Council Official, 14 running costs such as fuel, truck repairs, and salary for
May 2019). This can hardly be turned into manure that can people working at the dumping/composting site (Int. Site
generate money expected to cover solid waste management Manager, Kenkombe; interview, Kakoba Division Council
6 Journal of Environmental and Public Health

Official, 14 May 2019). As a consequence, workers at

Kenkombe garbage dumping and processing site were laid
off from December 2018 (interview, Key Informant, Mbarara
Municipal Council, 9 May 2019). Continued dumping of
solid waste at the site when workers are supposed to sort it or
dump it in the landfill were laid off, resulting in a lot of open
garbage decomposition and rotting, which comes with an
unbearable stench and pollution of the environment around Figure 4: Uncollected garbage in Kenkombe waste dumping site.
the dumping site (interviews, Four Household Heads in
Rwemigyina and Kenkombe villages that border the
Rwentondo (Kenkombe) garbage-dumping site in Kakoba,
15 May 2019) as exemplified by Figure 4.

3.5.3. Inappropriate Disposal of Industrial Waste.

According to the Mbarara Municipal Council Waste
Management byelaws 2005, every factory operating within
Mbarara Municipality is supposed to have a properly
functioning treatment facility (kiln) to deal with its in-
Figure 5: Untreated industrial waste flowing into River Rwizi.
dustrial waste. However, almost all the factories do not
have these facilities and remain operational through
bribing the municipal officials (interview, Key Informant,
Mbarara Municipal Council, 17 May 2019). Many dump effective fertilizer making plant by the Danish company
their industrial waste in unutilized public land, forests, or (Transform AF) has since been shelved as the company
garbage skips meant for the general municipal solid waste moved on and the land controversy is dragging on (in-
(interview of 4 residents of Kateera Cell, Ruti Ward, terview, Principal Medical Officer of Health (PMOH),
Nyamitanga Division, 18 May 2019). Others transport their Mbarara Municipality, 9 May 2019). This is a very huge
hazardous waste directly to the Kenkombe dumping site or setback for Mbarara Municipality as it has for a long time
expressed a desire to have a private operator that manages
just release it into river Rwizi (interview, Mbarara Mu-
its waste (interview, Principal Medical Officer of Health
nicipality Principal Medical Officer of Health (PMOH), 9
(PMOH), Mbarara Municipality, 9 May 2019), a model that
May 2019; interview, Site Manager, Kenkombe), as evi-
has been proven to be more effective in other places such
denced in Figure 5.
Kampala [17]. Several high ranking commentators in the
The municipal leadership blames the problem of in-
dustrial waste on factory owners or managers who run country including President Museveni, the Katiikiro
their businesses without proper waste disposal facilities, (Prime Minister) of Buganda kingdom; Charles Peter
which in itself is an abuse of entrusted authority (inter- Mayiga, the Minister for Lands; Hon. Betty Amongi, the
view, Current Mayor (2016–Present), Mbarara Munici- Head of the High Court Land Division; and Hon. Justice
pality, 16 May 2019). However, others placed this whole Dr. Andrew Bashaija among others have all pointed at
mess on Municipal Officials who take bribes from factory corruption as a big factor fuelling land grabbing which has
reached epidemic proportions in the country [38–42].
operators and turn a blind eye on them (interview, Former
Mayor (2001–2016), Mbarara Municipality, 16 May 2019;
residents of Kajoogo Cell, in Kamukuzi division, 16 May,
3.6. Discussion of Study Findings. From the study finding
2019).
presented above, it can be observed that both corruption and
municipal solid waste management are huge and complex
3.5.4. Grabbing of the Dumping Site Land. The 114-acre problem. There is a clear link between corruption and solid
Mbarara Municipal Council owned land in Kenkombe and waste management challenges in Mbarara municipality. Seen
Kakoba division serving as the municipal solid waste from the broader context, this may not be surprising because
dumping site has not been spared by land grabbers. The corruption is now a systemic problem affecting almost all
seriousness of these land grabbers was brought to public facets of public life in Uganda [43, 44]. While the findings that
attention in August 2018 when a Danish company garbage truck drivers, their turn boys, and sorters who are
(Transform AF) wanted to sign a memorandum of un- directly supposed to help reduce garbage in the town turned
derstanding with Mbarara Municipal Council to build an the whole process into a lucrative business for themselves and
effective fertilizer making plant on this land. All of a sudden a big problem for others may be a new revelation in the
two individuals named Asiimwe Alex Mubangizi and context of waste management particularly in Mbarara mu-
Jacklet Mubangizi claimed ownership of the land in nicipality, it is not new in the context of corruption. Studies in
question. They made their claim in a letter submitted to the other cities have indeed indicated that people mandated to
town clerk through the office of the Inspectorate of Gov- address a particular problem may simply use that opportunity
ernment (IGG) in Mbarara and dragged the council to to enrich themselves while making the whole problem worse.
court [37]. As a result, the entire planned project to build an For instance, in cities such as Mumbai, Nairobi, and Lagos
Journal of Environmental and Public Health 7

bribes extorted from street vendors by law enforcement of- (iii) The courts of law should make cases such land
ficials sent to evict them from the streets run into millions of grabbing a priority, expedite their hearings, and
dollars per year [45, 46]. It is also clear that the wide spread conclude them quickly. Punishments for people or
corruption in Mbarara involves many actors who are working companies proved by courts to have engaged in
in coordinated ways. This is in agreement with other scholarly such land grabbing attempts that resulted in loss of
literature and reports which have stressed that, in societies huge public investments or cost the taxpayer a huge
where corruption is endemic, it is rarely an act of few in- fortune should be given very severe penalties that
dividuals but syndicated groups [47–49]. The article also can act as future deterrents to others whether land
recognizes that while corruption is a key contributor to solid grabbers or corruption perpetrators (interview,
waste management challenges in Mbarara, it is not the only Several Key Informants, 9–16 May 2019).
factor but it is reinforced or reinforces others including but (iv) Adoption of smart technologies which can help
not limited to poor financing, failure to enforce existing waste make city managers, waste management opera-
management laws, political interferences, lack of community tors, and citizens active participants in the pro-
participation, poor attitude by the public towards waste cesses of reporting anomalous situations and
collection, inadequate planning, and people’s tendency to easing business operation has helped improve
throw garbage anywhere including environmentally sensitive solid waste management in cities like Milan and
areas (Table 4). Stockholm, among others [2]. It is thus recom-
mended that Mbarara municipality which is
4. Recommendations scheduled to become a city in July 2020 [55]
embraces the use of smart technologies such as
Addressing corruption and solid waste management chal- fitting garbage trucks with GPS that can track their
lenges in Mbarara municipality requires targeted inter- movements which can then be collaborated with
ventions that address issues raised by this paper in the information from the people who will have
collaboration with those raised by other scholars/reports as paid for manure, collection points, and the
discussed hereunder. dumping sites. In cases where the trucks are ob-
served to be moving outside the expected zones,
(i) Broadly speaking, the war on corruption in Uganda then the drivers can be questioned (Key Infor-
has mainly been lost due to impunity and selected mant, Mbarara Municipal Council).
punishment [51]. Yet in cities such as La Paz in
Bolivia and Hong Kong in China and countries like (v) The method of requiring people who want to buy
Singapore or Rwanda where the war on corruption manure to first pick forms from the council, pay in
has been won, the trick was mainly severe pun- the bank, and then go to the compost manure
ishment to anyone implicated in corruption processing plant in Kenkombe is very costly in
without fear or favor [52–54]. It is therefore a key terms of both money and time. Municipal council
recommendation of this paper that anyone sus- officials should embrace new money transfer in-
pected of corruption should be properly investi- novations such as mobile money payment tech-
gated and anyone implicated should be severely niques where farmers can just buy and pay for the
punished without fear or favor. Anticorruption compost they want using their phones any time
agencies and municipal administrators should which saves time. Then council can establish a
widen their investigations always to include not coordinating office such that after payment, they
only people directly by the municipal council but are booked and their compost is delivered in the
also other actors such surveyors that provide wrong process (interviews with four farmers in Katoojo
information and mappings to land grabbers, land Parish, 11 May 2019).
registry officials that fraudulently provide land (vi) The government, CSOs, and municipal council
grabbers with land titles, police officers that kill or should streamline and encourage practices that
provide wrong evidence, and judicial offices that improve better settlement patterns, reduce slums,
give biased judgments among many others. improve livelihoods of low income earners, and
(ii) All factories should be required to have appropriate promote behavioral changes so as to discourage
solid waste management plans and facilities before indiscriminate dumping of garbage [56].
they can be granted a license to operate in the (vii) Almost all respondents interviewed for this study
municipality. Factories without proper facilities to are fine with the idea of handing over the man-
manage their waste should have their operating agement of solid waste in Mbarara Municipality to
licenses suspended until they put those facilities in a private investor/operator or a public private
place. The municipality should conduct regular and partnership on condition that such an under-
impromptu visits to these premises to make sure standing is entered into with clear terms that
that those actors that may have those facilities are protect the public interest. Indeed, other studies in
actually using them. Impromptu visits can sort this Uganda have demonstrated that these arrange-
one out so that anyone found to be breaching the ments can work if well regulated [17]. Thus, this
rules is fined accordingly. article recommends that the authorities in Mbarara
8 Journal of Environmental and Public Health

Table 4: Factors contributing to solid waste problems and key perpetrators.

Factors contributing to solid waste problems Key perpetrators
Municipal council technocrats, politicians, truck drivers, turn boys,
factory/hospital owners, and farmers. This means that corruption is
Corruption
a complex problem involving different actors and manifests in
different forms.
The central government is partly to be blamed. No money is
allocated by the central government to cater for waste management.
The council is supposed to use local revenues to finance this.
However, their sources of revenue were crippled by the 2017
presidential directive that stopped collection of daily fees from
Poor financing
market vendors and taxes drivers in the country [50]. In the specific
case of Mbarara municipality, this was their key source of money
(interview, Principal Medical Officer of Health (PMOH), Mbarara
Municipality, 9 May 2019). Poor financing at the municipal level can
be blamed on misprioritisation and also corruption
Municipal political and bureaucratic officials and community
Failure to enforce existing waste management laws
members
Politicians both at the central government level (e.g., the presidential
Political interferences scrapping of collecting daily fees from market vendors and taxi
owners) and at municipal, division, and village level.
Lack of community participation, poor attitude by the public
All community members but particularly those in very low income
towards waste collection and tendency to throw garbage anywhere
areas
including environmentally sensitive areas
Inadequate planning Central and municipal politicians and technical people

Municipality carefully study this option and put in Data Availability

place measures to protect the public from any kind
of abuse from private actors and if the appropriate The data (both primary and secondary) used to support the
actors are found, they should try out this option. findings of this study are included within the article and
This option cannot work alone unless the local cited accordingly.
population is collectively encouraged and atten-
tively supervised to ensure that garbage is delivered Consent
at collection points when it is already sorted so as to
reduce the burden of separating [2]. This research did not involve animals, and all human par-
ticipants’ views were obtained and included in the article
with their informed consent.
5. Conclusion
This research article has been able to expose and illustrate Conflicts of Interest
how corruption perpetuated by different actors and
The authors do not have any particular conflicts of interest
manifesting in different forms has made solid waste
towards any individual or institution.
management in Mbarara Municipality a big challenge. The
key conclusions of this research are that corruption in any
form (whether political perpetuated by top politicians, References
bureaucratic by municipal officials, or petty by low ranking [1] K. Silpa, L. Yao, P. Bhada-Tata, and F. Van Woerden, What a
garbage truck drivers, turn boys, and sorters) can be very Waste 2.0 A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to
devastating by turning a simple and manageable challenge 2050, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA, 2018.
into a huge problem affecting an entire town. This research [2] S. Capolongo, A. Rebecchi, M. Dettori et al., “Healthy design
has also revealed that corruption can also be devastatingly and urban planning strategies, actions, and policy to achieve
perpetuated by private sector players such as clinics, salutogenic cities,” International Journal of Environmental
hospital, and factory owners neglecting their responsibility Research and Public Health, vol. 15, no. 12, p. 2698, 2018.
in ways that may not be easily understood by lay people as [3] H. K. Rotich, Z. Yongsheng, and D. Jun, “Municipal solid
waste management challenges in developing countries:
corruption. It is the hope of the researchers that the rev-
Kenyan case study,” Waste Management, vol. 26, no. 1,
elations and knowledge generated from this research will be pp. 92–100, 2006.
useful to anticorruption agencies and local authorities who [4] A. Scheinberg, D. C. Wilson, and L. Rodic, Solid Waste
are trying to address both corruption and solid waste Management in the World’s Cities. UN-habitat’s Third Global
mismanagement in Mbarara and other Ugandan Munici- Report on the State of Water and Sanitation in the World’s
palities and beyond. Cities, Earthscan, London, UK, 2010.
Journal of Environmental and Public Health 9

[5] D. N. Tahraoui, G. Matejka, S. Chambon, and D. Touil, “Com- municipality-locals-protest-poor-services-want-mayor-to-

position of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated by the city of step-down/.
chlef (Algeria),” Energy Procedia, vol. 18, pp. 762–771, 2012. [22] A. Taremwa, “Kakoba dvision spends 192 million on garbage
[6] World Bank, Solid Waste Management, World Bank, alone,” 2014, https://taremwaalex.wordpress.com/2014/05/
Washington, DC, USA, 2019, https://www.worldbank.org/en/ 06/kakoba-division-spends-shs192m-on-garbage-alone/.
topic/urbandevelopment/brief/solid-waste-management. [23] J. Nahamya, Mbarara Residents Raid Town Clerks Office Over
[7] P. Tajuba, A look at Uganda’s Garbage Burden, Daily Monitor, Garbage, https://chimpreports.com/mbarara-residents-raid-
Kampala, Uganda, 2014, https://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/ town-clerks-office-over-garbage/, Chimp Reports, Kampala,
Reviews/A-look-at-Uganda-s-garbage burden/691232-2408178- Uganda, 2016, https://chimpreports.com/mbarara-residents-
uix00q/index.html. raid-town-clerks-office-over-garbage/.
[8] C. M. Liyala, Modernizing Solid Waste Management at Mu- [24] UBOS, National Population and Housing Census 2014, Main
nicipal Level: Institutional Arrangements in Urban Centers of Report, https://www.ubos.org/wpcontent/uploads/publications/
East Africa. PhD Thesis. Environmental Policy Series, Wage- 03_20182014_National_Census_Main_Report.pdf, UBOS, Kam-
ningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands, 2011. pala, Uganda, 2014, https://www.ubos.org/wpcontent/uploads/
[9] J. Nahamya, Waste Management Threatens Mbarara City Status, publications/03_20182014_National_Census_Main_Report.pdf.
https://chimpreports.com/waste-management-threatens-mbarara- [25] E. Bifubyeka, “Mbarara, NEMA sign deal,” 2005, https://www.
city-status/, Chimp Reports, Kampala, Uganda, 2018, https:// newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1121212/mbarara-nema-sign-
chimpreports.com/waste-management-threatens-mbarara-city- deal.
status/. [26] E. Luyima and R. Kasande, “Environmental impact statement
[10] A. S. Oberlin, The role of households in solid waste manage- for the proposed Mbarara municipal council composting
ment in East Africa capital cities, Ph.D. thesis, Wageningen project,” 2007, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/
University, Wageningen, Netherlands, 2011. 960321468110963737/pdf/E28840v100EA0P02B0AFR0EA0P
[11] J. Okot-Okumu and R. Nyenje, “Municipal solid waste 073089v10.pdf.
management under decentralisation in Uganda,” Habitat [27] M. P. Agaba, “Mbarara home garbage collection project stalls,”
International, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 537–543, 2011. 2009, https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/mbarara-home-
[12] J. T. Tukahirwa, A. P. J. Mol, and P. Oosterveer, “Civil society garbage-collection-project-stalls.
participation in urban sanitation and solid waste management [28] E. Bifubyeka, “Mbarara complains of garbage disposal,” 2006,
in Uganda,” Local Environment, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 1–14, 2010. https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1153989/mbarara-
[13] UN-Habitat, Mbarara Municipality Urban Profile: United complains-garbage-disposal.
Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, Kam- [29] M. Kabasongora, Residents Storm Mbarara Offices over Choking
pala, Uganda, 2012, http://www.worldurbancampaign.org/ Garbage, Uganda Radio Network, Kampala, Uganda, 2016,
sites/default/files/mbarara_municipality_urban_profile_ https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/mbarara-municipality-
uganda.pdf. officials-flee-office-after-residents-attack-over-chocking-garbage-.
[14] B. Chandra, “Garbage management is about fighting cor- [30] T. Karak, R. M. Bhagat, and P. Bhattacharyya, “Municipal
ruption,” 2018, https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/ solid waste generation, composition, and management: the
garbage-management-is-about-fighting-corruption/1310213/ world scenario,” Critical Reviews in Environmental Science
. and Technology, vol. 42, no. 15, pp. 1509–1630, 2012.
[15] A. Graziano, G. Fraquelli, F. Erbetta, and D. Vannoni, “The [31] M. A. Memon, “Integrated solid waste management based on
cost of corruption in the Italian solid waste industry,” In- the 3R approach,” Journal of Material Cycles and Waste
dustrial and Corporate Change, vol. 24, no. 2, p. 439, 2012. Management, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 30–40, 2010.
[16] D. Vannoni, “Corruption, accountability, and efficiency. An [32] J. Okot-Okumu, “Solid waste management in African cit-
application to municipal solid waste services,” in Proceedings ies—East Africa,” in Waste Management – an Integrated
of the 12th International Academic Conference, International Vision, InTechOpen, London, UK, 2012.
Institute of Social and Economic Sciences, Prague, Czech [33] H. Wang and Y. Nie, “Remedial strategies for municipal solid
Republic, 2014. waste management in China,” Journal of the Air & Waste
[17] M. W. Katusiimeh, A. P. J. Mol, and K. Burger, “The oper- Management Association, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 264–272, 2001.
ations and effectiveness of public and private provision of [34] G. Anders, “Like chameleons. civil servants and corruption in
solid waste collection services in Kampala,” Habitat Inter- Malawi,” The Governance of Daily Life in Africa, Brill, Leidan,
national, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 247–252, 2012. Netherlands, pp. 23-24, 2002.
[18] M. Kabasongora, UGX 556 Million Mbarara Garbage Recy- [35] T. Søreide, Drivers of Corruption: A Brief Review, World Bank,
cling Project Stalls, Uganda Radio Network, Kampala, Washington, DC, USA, 2014.
Uganda, 2011, https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/ugx- [36] A. Ayoreka, “Two arrested, offices closed by anti-corruption
556-million-mbarara-garbage-recycling-project-stalls. unit in Mbarara, new vision, Kampala ,Uganda,” 2019, https://
[19] A. Kushaba, Mbarara Traders, Municipal Bicker over Garbage www.newvision.co.ug/news/1495323/arrested-offices-closed-
Management, Uganda Radio Network, Kampala, Uganda, anti-corruption-unit-mbarara.
2017, https://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s�97039. [37] J. Nahamya, Mbarara: “Land Grabbers” Threaten Danish Garbage
[20] R. Mukombozi, Garbage Chokes Mbarara Town as Residents Close Collection Project, https://chimpreports.com/mbarara-land-
Site, Daily Monitor, Kampala, Uganda, 2011, https://mobile. grabbers-threaten-danish-garbage-collection-project/, Chimp Re-
monitor.co.ug/news/todayspaper/691252-1244772-format-xhtml- ports, Kampala, Uganda, 2018, https://chimpreports.com/
qd9wjj/index.html. mbarara-land-grabbers-threaten-danish-garbage-collection-
[21] J. Nahamya, Mbarara Municipality: Locals Protest Poor Ser- project/.
vices, Want Mayor to Step Down, Soft Power Uganda, [38] C. P. Mayiga, Reasons Land Conflicts are Rampant in Uganda,
Kampala, Uganda, 2019, https://www.softpower.ug/mbarara- p. 11, Daily Monitor, Kampala, Uganda, 2017.
10 Journal of Environmental and Public Health

[39] S. Nakirigya, Amongi Blames Land Wrangles on Corruption in

her Ministry, p. 3, Daily Monitor, Kampala, Uganda, 2017.
[40] J. Oloka-Onyango, “Land injustice, impunity and state col-
lapse in Uganda: causes, consequences and correctives,
HURIPEC report,” 2017, https://www.witnessradio.org/
download/reports/HURIPEC.
[41] Republic of Uganda Judiciary, Judiciary Blames Land Disputes
on Inadequate Law, Structures, September 17, Republic of
Uganda Judiciary, Kampala, Uganda, 2017, https://www.
judiciary.go.ug/data/news/408/142/.
[42] M. Wambi, Land Probe: Courts Accused of Fuelling Land
Wrangles, Uganda Radio Network, Kampala, Uganda, 2017.
[43] UDN, Dossier on Corruption in Uganda from 2002-2012,
UDN, Kampala, Uganda, 2013, https://www.udn.or.ug.
[44] Transparency International, Corruption Perception Index,
Transparency International, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
[45] P. Muiruri, Women Street Vendors in Nairobi Kenya: A Sit-
uational and Policy Analysis within a Human Rights
Framework, African Books Collective, Oxford, UK, 2010.
[46] T. Guardian, “Mumbai street vendors: cops work in shifts, so i
have to bribe each one,” 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/
cities/2014/nov/.../mumbai-street-vendorscops-bribery.
[47] C. B. Camargo and N. Passas, Hidden Agendas, Social Norms and
Why We Need to Re-think Anti-corruption, Basel Institute on
Governance and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2017,
https://www.oecd.org/cleangovbiz/Integrity-Forum-2017-Baez%
20Camargo-Passas-hidden-agendas-social-norms.pdf.
[48] F. Mugerwa, Fighting Corruption is Complex, Says IG, Daily
Monitor, Kampala, Uganda, 2017, https://www.dailymonitor.
co.ug.
[49] E. M. Shannon, Dark networks: criminal collaboration in
australian police forces, Ph.D. thesis, School of Justice Faculty
of Law Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane,
Australia, 2017.
[50] J. Kimbowa, “Museveni bans daily fees for vendors, taxis,”
2017, https://observer.ug/news/headlines/54378-museveni-
bans-daily-fees-for-vendors-taxis.
[51] Human Rights Watch, Letting the Big Fish Swim. Failures to
Prosecute High-Level Corruption in Uganda, Human Rights
Watch, New York, NY, USA, 2013.
[52] M. M. Ali, Eradicating Corruption—the Singapore Experience,
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, Singapore, 2000,
https://www.unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/
documents/apcity/unpan002749.pdf.
[53] R. Klitgaard, R. MacLean-Abaroa, and H. P. Lindsey, Corrupt
Cities: A Practical Guide to Cure and Prevention, University of
California Press, Berkeley, CA, USA, 1988.
[54] K. Y. Lee, From Third World to First: Singapore and the Asian
Economic Boom, Harper Collins, New York, NY, USA, 2011.
[55] K. Kyetume, “New city-status municipalities should adopt
smart city innovations,” p. 36, Daily Monitor, Kampala,
Uganda, 2019.
[56] D. D’Alessandro, S. Arletti, A. Azara et al., “Strategies for
disease prevention and health promotion in urban areas: the
erice 50 charter,” Annali di Igiene, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 481–493,
2017.