City dwellers dash for trenches, bottles as toilets close

For example, the KCCA public toilets at Centenary Park on the busy Jinja Road have been closed to the public for more than a year now. 

This facility used to serve revellers at the busy hangouts at Centenary Park as well as passersby, and those at the taxi and bus stops adjacent the park. 

This situation has forced the potential users of the toilets to resort to answering nature’s call by dashing to the nearby hedges, trenches, using polythene bags, and bottles to answer nature’s call.

Ms Lilian Mpirirwe, a food vendor at Centenary Park, wants KCCA to reopen the toilets because many people have since invaded the space she uses to cook to ease themselves. 

“KCCA should come to our rescue because I am tired of people who have turned my place into a toilet. Every morning, I find people easing themselves here. We are likely to contract more diseases,” Ms Mpirirwe says. 

Mr James Katoole, a taxi driver, who plies his trade by Centenary Park stage, says: “It is especially bad for us who are diabetic because we have to ease ourselves every minute. We have to pay at least Shs1,000 to access the only available toilet here. That money is too much to afford. Let KCCA open their facilities and we pay some little money.” 

He says they had great expectations when KCCA renovated the toilets and thought they would be open to the public soon. But his hopes were dashed. 

“It was shocking that it floods whenever it rains where they constructed these toilets. It is in such a bad state,” Mr Katoole says. 

“It’s been more than one year since these toilets were closed. Now the people are struggling to find where to go. That’s why most of them have resorted to using bottles and trenches. We ask KCCA to come quickly to our rescue,” Mr Ali Ndesewo, another taxi driver at Centenary Park stage, says. 

At Kamwokya, another city public toilet opposite the market was also closed for renovation. The residents say this was only reopened last year after eight months. 

“We used to suffer a lot looking for toilets . We would pay Shs300 for each visit or hide in the neighborhood or even use bottles and polythene bags to answer nature’s call,” Ms Betty Kabayenda, a vendor in the market, says.

In order to maintain the hygiene at the facility, KCCA hired Avensky Ventures Ltd, a cleaning company, to clean the toilet and provide toilet paper. 

Mr Isaac Pariyo, the caretaker of the facility, says the hygiene in the place has improved since it was renovated. 

“We receive a minimum of 2,000 people per day, with most of them being market vendors, boda boda men, and pedestrians. We also receive those coming from their homes to access the facility,” he says. 

Nevertheless, Mr Pariyo says they still face challenges with people who misuse the toilets. 

“There are people who go there and pour water on the toilet paper, some carry them and others don’t know how to flush the toilets,” he says. 

However, there are also some people who have raised their displeasure over the poor hygiene and other provisions in the toilets. 

“This toilet would have been good for us but it doesn’t have toilet tissues, and sometimes they don’t clean them, and this causes a threat on our lives,” a plantain vendor, who preferred to be called Nalongo, says. 

She is also displeased with both the opening hours at 7pm and closing hours at 8pm, which she says affects them adversely. 

Some other toilets visited by our reporter were found in sorry state with a pungent smell. These include a KCCA public toilet on Entebbe Road near Shri Ganesh Plaza, and another on Bombo Road near Watoto Church. 

The Entebbe Road toilet serves passersby and vendors from Nakasero Market. Whereas the Bombo Road facility serves passersby, and the congregation from Watoto Church, among other categories. 

By the time of our visits last week, the two facilities were undergoing renovation, forcing both women and men to use the same stances to ease themselves. 

A street vendor on Entebbe Road says: “Ever since they closed the men’s side, we all use only one side, I have never felt secure going there. What if I get a problem, for example a man rapes me or I get infections? So, I have to keep some money to use at a private facility where we pay Shs500.” 

Early this year, the KCCA Executive Director, Ms Dorothy Kisaka, commissioned 45 toilets which were built in different parts of the city, with the help of National Water and Sewerage Corporation. 

Ms Kisaka says the facilities were part of a project aimed at expanding sanitation facilities throughout the city and enhance hygiene. 

However, four months after the visit, the facilities have never been opened to the public yet the old ones were demolished leaving people with nowhere to ease themselves. 

“We are dying. KCCA demolished the old toilet and failed to open the new ones. So, now we are meant to use nearby private toilets where we pay Shs300. But it also only has two stances, which can’t accommodate all of us since the population in the area is huge,” Mr Hassan Wamboga, a taxi driver operating near City Square, said. 

Mr Samuel Kizito, another taxi driver operating near the City Square, says: “The situation is worrying at this place because KCCA closed the facility and now some people have resorted to using bottles to ease themselves. The available toilets are accessed at cost and not every person who comes to Kampala has money, some carry only transport money.”

KCCA speaks out 

The KCCA deputy executive director, Mr David Luyimbazi, blames the delays for opening the City Square toilets on the contractors.

Luyimbazi says the toilets at Centenary Park were closed because they were unusable and could endanger the public. 

“You know when we outsource work to private sector contractors, sometimes we get challenges of getting them to conclude the works. For the City Square one, it is the poor performance of the contractor that is affecting us. It should have been opened over a year ago but the contractor has faced cash flow issues and we have had to give him time to conclude it. We anticipate that in the next six months it should be substantially complete, ” Mr Luyimbazi says. 

He says Kampala has a total of 760 public toilets, with most of them located downtown in busy taxi parks, markets, public schools, and streets. 

“The 760 toilets are all functional by the way. It is now the ones that are coming on stream where you find that maybe there is ongoing construction that takes longer than planned like the one at City Square has taken longer than it was planned for. But of the 50 public toilets that have been developed by National Water,10 are now operational,” he adds. 

Mr Luyimbazi says they have taken big strides towards improving citywide access to better sanitation services. 

“ The process of securing sanitation facilities for the entire city is ongoing. We do it through the road projects we implement in partnerships with organisations such as National Water and Sewerage Corporation, and other goodwill NGOs and corporate organisations,” he says. 

“They help us build some toilets and through that we are able to provide the city with sanitation facilities where people can access toilets for free because they are heavily subsidised. We only pay for the water and electricity bills and maybe the maintenance of the toilet, the cleaning and all,” he says.