Residents of Rwemigiina Ward in Mbarara are raising urgent concerns over the worsening conditions at the Kenkombe Dumping Site, warning that mismanagement has turned the facility into a “ticking health time bomb.”
Spanning about 125 acres, Kenkombe was designated by the Mbarara City Council as the city’s primary waste disposal hub. However, the site is now littered with massive mounds of unprocessed garbage, creating unbearable odors and heightening fears of disease outbreaks.
The landfill sits dangerously close to key public institutions, intensifying local concerns: Kaburangiire Primary School, exposing students to potentially harmful airborne pathogens; Kaburangiire Church of Uganda, affecting worshipers; a public abattoir, raising food safety concerns; and dozens of nearby family homes, where parents worry about respiratory and sanitation-related health risks.
“We are living in filth,” said one resident. “The garbage is scattered everywhere, and when the wind blows, the smell is suffocating. We fear an outbreak of cholera or other sanitation-related diseases.”
Steven Guma, the Kenkombe Cell LC1 chairman, criticized the contractors responsible for waste disposal, saying, “The companies keep pouring garbage outside the designated areas. We have engaged the mayor and town clerk, but they are silent. When the site fills up, they bring a grader to ‘sort’ the garbage, but it’s only to consume fuel — we learnt about Shs3 million is spent each time the grader works here.”
Rev. Boas Tunanukye, lead priest at Kaburangiire Church of Uganda, added that “the city has been negligent in creating proper access paths for waste vehicles. We requested fencing to secure the site, but nothing has been done so far.”
Mbarara City generates an estimated 200 tonnes of waste daily. The lack of processing capacity at Kenkombe has pushed the site to saturation, forcing some collection companies to illegally dump refuse along access roads.
This has blocked critical pathways and further strained local sanitation infrastructure.
In response, Mbarara City Town Clerk Justine Barekye acknowledged the challenges but said relief was imminent.
“Plans to fence off the landfill are underway to better manage the perimeter and prevent encroachment. We have also allocated 2% of the Shs46.7 billion Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) fund specifically for waste management,” Barekye said.
Despite these assurances, residents remain skeptical, stressing that until the accumulated waste is processed or relocated, health risks continue to rise.
With the rainy season intensifying, the community is particularly concerned about leachate contaminating local water sources.
For now, the people of Rwemigiina Ward remain caught between a growing mountain of trash and the hope of government intervention.
