Friend of the Human Race

In the driving seat

We return to Iganga, Uganda, and discover how international collaboration on waste management has enabled the council to become autonomous…

Since Uganda gained independence in 1962, the eastern town of Iganga has been dependent on higher authorities for money and in making important decisions.

For 40 years the town has been lobbying for the municipal status which would enable it to create its own budget and apply directly to central government for funding, instead of having to approach its district council to make its case.

Iganga has been twined with Daventry, a town in central England, for 15 years. In that time the two towns have worked together to develop public health infrastructure in Iganga, especially in solid waste management.

This has been critical to the Igangan local authority’s development. Muzamiru Bidondole, health assistant at Iganga Municipal Council, explains: ‘Our solid waste management system has greatly changed. Many urban authorities are now coming to Iganga to learn from us.

‘We now operate a roadside system codenamed door-to-door. People keep their waste in collection containers and have to wait for the tractors to come near their homes on a specific day for their area before they bring out their waste at the roadside to be picked up by the council tractors.

‘The town had earlier been denied municipal status by the ministry of local government, but after seeing this progress in July 2010, the ministry elevated Iganga town to that status, after over 40 years of lobbying, due to improvements in solid waste management.’

Mr Bidondole was appointed head of solid waste management after his stint in Daventry as the first ever Commonwealth Fellow of Public Health. These fellowships support mid-career professionals from developing Commonwealth countries to spend periods with a UK host working in their field.

Mr Bidondole worked at Daventry for three months. He says: ‘Giving scholarships to middle class workers was unheard of in Uganda, but my scholarship was timely as Iganga and myself benefited greatly.

‘I was to learn how things are done in the UK and see how practically I could apply what I’d learnt back in Iganga. Given that chance, I went back to my town and presented my report, which the council accepted.

‘The end result was that Iganga council assigned me to be in charge of solid waste management. This has helped us improve and now we’re a municipality, a level next to a city status, but above all we’re cleaner than we used to be and many are learning from us.’

Before Daventry’s involvement, the Igangan local authority trucks were worn out and always breaking down. The town council had to hire vehicles at great expense, with money it didn’t have.

Daventry District Council sent a secondhand, side-loading Bedford truck to Iganga in 1998. Together, council workers and volunteers from both Daventry and Iganga began daily house to house collections, some separation and simple composting. Staff had no protective clothing, so Daventry DC provided gumboots for bare feet.

In 2004, a second refuse truck, purchased by a charity that sprung out of the partnership, Daventry Friends of Iganga, was refurbished and sent to Iganga.

The Bedford gave up after 10 years, but tractors provided by the World Bank now tow waste collection trailers for the door to door service.

Colleagues in Iganga have formed their own NGO, as a twin to DFOI. Mr Bidondole says: ‘Aware that links develop and sometimes they have a time frame for sustainability, and to consolidate the achievements of the partnership between Daventry and Iganga, we formed a similar association called Iganga Friends of Daventry, because by then we were more than friends.

‘Many thanks go to Daventry DC and the DFOI for their support. Their role will never be forgotten.’

www.friendsofiganga.org