Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has allocated Shs 50 million to support the eradication of bedbugs in communities across the city, as officials respond to growing public concern over the infestation.
The announcement was made during the weekly Weyonje community clean-up exercise, led by KCCA executive director Hajat Sharifah Buzeki and held every Saturday to promote public hygiene, proper solid waste management and waste sorting at source.
Residents of Kawempe One Parish used the exercise to urge KCCA to intensify efforts to tackle the increasing infestation of bedbugs and cockroaches across Kampala.
The clean-up exercise was attended by officers from the Uganda Police Force, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and representatives of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU).
Henry Mpiima of the PLU said the organisation has mobilised young people to carry out Bulungi Bwansi community clean-up activities, which began at village level and have since expanded to parishes.
He said volunteers have been fumigating homes as part of the campaign but are overwhelmed by the growing number of households infested with bedbugs and cockroaches.
Mpiima appealed to KCCA to provide additional resources to strengthen the initiative.
Joseph Kibuga, the LC I chairperson of Kawempe Kirokole, a Kawempe Division councillor and deputy mayor of Kawempe Division, said many residents suffer from bedbug infestations in silence because they are reluctant to speak openly about the problem.
According to Kibuga, the scale of the infestation is reflected in the large number of residents who regularly approach him seeking fumigation chemicals to eliminate bedbugs and cockroaches from their homes.
He attributed the growing infestation to poor sanitation, overcrowded housing and inadequate ventilation, saying these conditions provide a conducive environment for the pests to breed.
Buzeki urged local leaders to identify the worst-affected areas to enable KCCA teams to target interventions more effectively. She also emphasised that improving household hygiene remains essential in controlling both bedbug and cockroach infestations.
Buzeki further warned residents against creating illegal dumping sites, saying offenders risk prosecution under the law. She also encouraged vendors removed from city streets to relocate to existing KCCA and privately owned markets as the authority explores opportunities to develop additional market spaces.
Kibuga also raised concerns about inadequate waste collection services, noting that Kawempe Division does not have enough garbage trucks to effectively manage waste.
He urged KCCA to deploy additional trucks and also called on the authority to prioritise construction and upgrading of the Kiyanja drainage channel to address persistent flooding in the area.
Responding to the concerns, Buzeki acknowledged that KCCA currently has only 34 garbage trucks serving the entire city. She said Parliament had approved additional funding in the current financial year to procure five more trucks.
On the Kiyanja drainage channel, Buzeki said KCCA had for years lacked adequate funding for drainage infrastructure. However, she revealed that President Yoweri Museveni directed the Ministry of Finance in March to finance Kampala’s drainage improvement plan.
She said KCCA will begin work on major drainage channels, including Lubigi and Nalukolongo, while maintenance on other channels will continue as additional funding becomes available.
