Unhygienic foodstuff: Who is responsible?

In mid-February, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the director general of Health Services, confirmed an outbreak of typhoid in Kampala.
When Bosco Lugemwa, a spare parts dealer in Kisekka market, got to know the symptoms of the disease, he rushed to a clinic. Blood tests, however, revealed that he did not have typhoid despite displaying all the symptoms.

At Mulago National Referral Hospital, the diagnosis was the same although he was given anti-malarial tablets. A week later, I found him at Kisenyi Health Centre IV awaiting results of yet another test.
“I know I have typhoid,” he says. “I have been drinking mineral water (name of brand withheld) which has a rotten smell. Sometimes I drink juice.”
The water and juice, in sealed bottles, is sold by vendors.

UNBS’ role
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is mandated to assess products based on quality and standard requirements, and protect consumers from substandard and hazardous products.

Barbara Kamusiime, the spokesperson for the organisation, says all mineral water brands on the market are certified.

“If anyone has a complaint, they should bring samples to our laboratories for testing. It is possible that what is being sold is counterfeit water in genuinely certified bottles.”

On why counterfeit drinks – complete with seals – are on the markets, Kamusiime says the organisation lacks capacity to police everything that is sold on the market.

Before the Ministry of Health came up with the public statement, Mustapha Mayambala, the chairperson of Uganda Transport Development Agency, had written to Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) to inform it of a strange disease among taxi drivers and conductors.

This week, KCCA closed five commercial buildings whose owners were supplying tenants with untreated underground water. Laboratory tests had shown that the water contained faecal matter.

KCCA gave the building owners conditions such as disconnecting the water pumps, closing spring water sources, clearing NWSC bills and writing commitment letters declaring never to stealthily extract underground water before the buildings are reopened.

However, Drake Lubega, a proprietor of one of the closed buildings, accuses KCCA of closing the building without ascertaining facts. “The alleged untreated water was used only to flush toilets, not anywhere as it is alleged by KCCA officials,” he said.

NWSC speaks out

Sarah Namuwenge, the manager public relations and communications at National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), says the mandate of the body stops at the piped water distributed throughout the country.
“Underground water sources are not our responsibility.

Before we distribute water, it is treated in the central laboratory. The problem of typhoid is not about the quality of the piped water and we have not received any complaint to that effect.”

KCCA has since advised the owners of the affected buildings to tap into the NWSC system.

Down town
In the Old Taxi Park, behind Ndeeba stage, there is a manhole that sometimes overflows with water. It has been around for years and those who use it say it connects to an underground spring.
Two young men (who refuse to be interviewed) took possession of the manhole and control the water supply around the taxi park. Every morning, they fetch water from the hole and sell it to restaurants and food stalls.

The ping pong
When contacted, Robert Kalumba, the KCCA deputy spokesperson, denied knowledge of the manhole. “We had not known about its existence but thank you for informing us because we are going to work on it.”

Besides selling food, Maama Lovinsa packages juice and water that she sells to taxi drivers and bodaboda riders. Business is brisk, and I have to wait for five minutes before I am attended to.

I hand her Shs20,000 for a one-litre jerry can of juice. The jerry cans originally contained cooking oil and it goes for Shs3,000. She hands the money to a waitress to look for change. I follow her out. To my question on whether the water used in the juice is boiled, the waitress is surprisingly candid. “We only boil one saucepan of water and divide it among five jerrycans,” she says. “Each jerrycan gets about five litres, which we top up with unboiled water.”

This water is then placed in “recycled” mineral water bottles and sold at Shs500 each.
Kalumba maintains that KCCA is arresting vendors not authorised to sell juice.

“What they are doing is illegal. We have been telling the public to desist from buying these drinks. How can they know if the water used is boiled or not?”

The waitress insists that boiling water is expensive. “Our charcoal is not enough to cook food, so how can we spare some to boil water? By the time the water is put on the sigiri, the fire is already dying out.”

Fruit vendors
Of late, there is an influx of fruit sellers in the outskirts of town. Deus Mugisha, who operates in Namuwongo, a Kampala suburb, says they are not regulated. “I did not seek permission from anyone. I just stationed myself here and started working.”

At Delta Petrol Station in Mengo-Kisenyi, I ask the fruit vendor to cut me a slice of pineapple at Shs500. He picks the pineapple and begins to peel it. There is dirt under his fingernails and once in a while, his hands touch the fruit.

His phone rings. He places the half-peeled pineapple on a pile of old peels, dispersing a number of flies.
When I ask him about ensuring the health of his customers, he says “once I put the slices in a kaveera, it is enough.”

What doctors say?

Fruits and natural juices are good for the nutrition of our bodies. However, with the typhoid outbreak in town one should be more careful about the fruits they eat.

Dr Charles Patrick Namisi, a physician, says that contamination of the fruits – and any other food we eat, comes from various places.

“Most vendors who prepare these fruits do not have access to clean water. There has been a water shortage in town and people have turned to dubious sources to wash fruits and vegetables. I normally see market women sprinkling vegetables with water from Nakivubo channel to keep them fresh.”

The hygiene of people preparing fruits could also be a source of contamination. “Some do not have good toilet manners and yet they handle the fruits with their bare hands after visiting the toilet,” says Namisi.

This is not a problem localised to street vendors, though. Fruit and vegetable salads prepared in dirty kitchens are also hazardous to the health of the consumers. In places which have to cope with many customers, hygiene standards can easily fall.
Namisi adds that the best way to gauge the hygiene of any eating place is to visit the toilets. If they are dirty, then do not eat in the premises.

“As a nation, we are not hygiene-conscious, but in terms of medical care, it is cheaper to prepare your own fruits and carry them to work. If you are not sure how the fruit salads were prepared, do not buy them.”