Residents of Arua City turned out in large numbers on Saturday to participate in the National Cleaning Day exercise, temporarily transforming the city's usually busy transport hubs into centres of community service.
By 7:00 a.m., the city's taxi and bus parks had taken on an unusual atmosphere. The normal hustle and bustle of passengers boarding and disembarking gave way to residents armed with brooms, spades and rakes, determined to clean their city.
Women, men and young people worked side by side, sweeping streets, desilting drainage channels and collecting heaps of garbage from public spaces.
Iddi Ali, the Assistant Manager of Friendship Bus Services, described the exercise as timely and beneficial.
"I wish this continues because some people have been disposing of waste carelessly," Ali said, adding that maintaining cleanliness would help reduce diseases associated with poor sanitation.
Although most passenger buses and taxis remained off the roads to allow residents to participate in the exercise, many boda boda riders continued operating as usual.
Along Rhino Camp Road, police patrols monitored the exercise as more residents joined the clean-up campaign throughout the morning.
Some participants, however, raised concerns about the lack of protective equipment for volunteers. Denis Oriyo appealed to the government to provide gloves and other protective gear to safeguard those handling waste from possible infections and injuries.
Residents also criticised the absence of garbage collection trucks to transport the waste gathered during the exercise.
"The city authorities should have had trucks on standby to collect the garbage immediately," said Umar Ahmed, a former councillor, expressing frustration that piles of collected waste were left at designated collection points.
Despite the logistical challenges, participants said the National Cleaning Day initiative had strengthened community responsibility and highlighted the importance of maintaining a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.