Land dispute hindering waste collection in Lugazi Municipality

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | A land dispute in Lugazi Municipality has affected the disposal of garbage putting residents lives at risk.

The municipality has for the last three years been dumping waste at Kakubansiri in Kawolo division until July 2019, when Shakur Sayid Mubarak, a resident at Lugazi claimed ownership the same land.

Mubarak argues that the municipality encroached on the land that belonged to his late father Sayid Mubarak, the former LCIII chairperson of Lugazi town council. He explains that his father donated about four acres of land to the municipality, which however is taking much more than what it was given.

Although the municipal town clerk Francis Nyamugo says that they have a land title of the disputed land, Mubarak is claiming another piece of land in the same area and has fenced off the road connecting to the dumping site.

Nyamugo says that Mubarak’s actions have frustrated garbage collection, especially in the central division since the alternative route can’t be used by trucks because it is slippery.

Heaps of garbage have developed near and in front of shops and residential houses within the town and other places such as Namengo, Nakazadde, Kikawuula, Ggeregere and the Market ward.

Godfrey Tenywa, a restaurant owner at the Central ward says that most of his customers have abandoned his eatery due to the foul stench emanating from the decomposing waste dropped around his workplace.

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