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Kampala, Uganda | URN | Kampala Capital City Authority Executive Director Hajat Sharifah Buzeki has announced that KCCA has set aside a dedicated budget in the current financial year to eradicate bedbugs in communities across Kampala. She urged local leaders to identify the most affected areas to enable KCCA teams to target interventions effectively.
She also emphasized that improving household hygiene remains essential in controlling both bedbugs and cockroach infestations.
Buzeki further warned Kampala residents against creating illegal dumping sites, saying offenders risk prosecution under the law.
She also encouraged vendors who were removed from city streets to relocate to existing KCCA and privately owned markets as the authority explores opportunities to develop additional market spaces.
Residents of Kawempe One Parish had appealed to the KCCA to intensify efforts to curb the growing infestation of bedbugs and cockroaches across Kampala.
The appeal was made during the weekly Weyonje community clean-up exercise spearheaded by Hajat Buzeki and held every Saturday to promote public hygiene, proper solid waste management, and waste sorting at source.
Henry Mpiima of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) said the organization has mobilized young people to carry out Bulungi Bwansi community clean-up activities, which started at the village level and have now expanded to the parish level.
Mpiima said volunteers have been fumigating homes as part of the campaign but are overwhelmed by the increasing number of households infested with bedbugs and cockroaches. He appealed to KCCA to support the initiative with additional resources to effectively manage the problem.
Joseph Kibuga, the LC I Chairperson of Kawempe Kirokole, a Kawempe Division councillor, and Deputy Mayor of Kawempe Division, said many residents suffer from bedbug infestations in silence, being reluctant to speak openly about the problem.
According to Kibuga, the extent of the infestation is evident from the large number of residents who regularly approach him seeking fumigation chemicals to eliminate bedbugs and cockroaches from their homes.
He attributed the growing infestation to poor sanitation, overcrowded housing, and poor ventilation, conditions that provide a conducive environment for the pests to breed.
Kibuga also raised concerns about inadequate waste collection services, noting that Kawempe Division lacks enough garbage trucks to effectively manage waste. He urged KCCA to deploy additional trucks to improve garbage collection.
He further highlighted the persistent flooding caused by the Kiyanja drainage channel, calling on the authority to prioritize its construction and upgrade.
Responding to the concerns, KCCA Executive Director Hajat Sharifah Buzeki acknowledged that the authority currently has only 34 garbage trucks serving the entire city. She said Parliament approved additional funding for this financial year to procure five more trucks.
On the Kiyanja drainage channel, Buzeki said KCCA had for years lacked adequate funding for drainage infrastructure. However, she revealed that President Yoweri Museveni directed the Ministry of Finance in March to finance the city’s drainage improvement plan.
She said KCCA will begin work on major drainage channels, including Lubigi and Nalukolongo, while other channels will continue to receive maintenance as additional funding becomes available.
Dr. Sarah Zalwango, KCCA’s Director of Public Health, told URN that the authority has allocated UGX50 million specifically for bedbug eradication across Kampala. She urged residents of Kawempe to maintain high hygiene standards as they prepare to compete in the upcoming Weyonje Challenge.
The clean-up exercise was attended by officers from the Uganda Police Force, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
