Bishop Dr Samuel Lwandasa, chairperson of the Greater Mukono Inter Faith Forum, calling people using using the drum Mukono, Uganda | URN | At the stroke of 7am on Saturday, Mukono town ground to a halt. Streets that normally bustle with matatus, boda-bodas and traders fell silent. Security personnel sealed off the main routes.
The first National Cleaning Day had begun. The nationwide directive, announced by the government days earlier, requires all Ugandans to pause ordinary activities every last Saturday of the month so communities can clean their surroundings. In Mukono the order was enforced with unusual firmness.
District Police Commander SP Joseph Isabamana and head of operations ASP Dison Ngobi led the security deployment. Residents joined the effort, helping stop anyone who tried to force a way through. Some drivers climbed onto their roofs to watch the unusual scene unfold.
In Wantoni, the mood was even stricter. Locals linked arms with police and refused passage to every vehicle, including official ones. A judiciary car found itself trapped.
Its occupants locked the doors and made frantic calls to senior security officials for rescue that never came. While the town stayed locked down, cleaning teams fanned out. The exercise was led by Hajjati Fatumah Ndisaba Nabittaka the Resident District Commissioner.
She and her team made an unwelcome discovery: a medical facility in Mukono town buried under heaps of garbage. The person in charge tried to block the officials from entering the grounds, only to find himself cornered and scrambling for explanations. She condemned the filth, especially in health facilities and around food vendors, and thanked the district leadership for organising the exercise.
Summary from source