The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has not received any official communication directing it to halt waste disposal at the Buyala landfill in Mpigi District, despite safety concerns raised by President Yoweri Museveni over the site’s proximity to a newly launched oil terminal, top city official has said.
Kampala Deputy Lord Mayor Faridah Nakabugo on Tuesday confirmed that the authority will continue transporting waste to Buyala until the central government presents a clear, sustainable alternative.
‘Buyala landfill has not been in existence for even three years as a dumping site and it is not that it has reached full capacity. If the government is prioritising the oil sector over the sanitation of the people, then it needs to secure a new place,’ Ms Nakabugo said.
She noted that KCCA lacks the financial resources to acquire another location after sinking substantial public funds into purchasing and preparing the Buyala site for waste management following the tragic collapse of the Kiteezi landfill.
‘As KCCA, we don’t have a budget to purchase a new place because we had just organised that landfill and seen that it can be modified to add value to the rubbish so that we don’t get another Kiteezi,’ she said.
Ms Nakabugo emphasised that the city’s ongoing waste crisis leaves KCCA with little choice but to use the Mpigi facility.
‘Kampala’s biggest problem is still the garbage crisis all over the place. Until we get that resolution plan from the government, we shall keep taking rubbish there because a lot of taxpayers’ money was used to secure that land,’ she added, reiterating that no formal proposals or directives have been issued to the political leadership.
Her remarks follow growing friction between the city’s waste management plans and national infrastructure projects. Last week, President Museveni flagged off the construction of the 320-million-litre Kampala Storage Terminal-a project meant to boost Uganda’s national fuel storage capacity to 360 million litres-while questioning the wisdom of having an open dumpsite situated close to the high-value energy installation.
Speaking in a separate interview, KCCA Deputy Executive Director Benon Moses Kigenyi acknowledged the environmental and safety risks involved, noting that measures are already being taken to mitigate hazards at the site.
He explained that technical teams are applying layers of murram and compacting the waste to manage decomposition heat, reduce environmental impacts, and maximize space. However, Mr Kigenyi conceded that the status quo is unsustainable given the site’s proximity to the fuel infrastructure.
‘We cannot continue the way we have been doing things. It is dangerous to be near the oil terminal facility,’ Mr Kigenyi said.
To address the threat, Mr Kigenyi revealed that KCCA has initiated a procurement process to transition from traditional dumping to a modern, waste-to-value processing facility.
‘We are looking at waste-to-value,’ he said, explaining that the authority is evaluating developers with technologies capable of converting refuse into usable products such as organic manure, recycled plastics, and paper.
According to Mr Kigenyi, the proposed modern facility-which would be the first of its kind in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area-is projected to be fully operational within two years on the same land in Buyala.
‘In about two years, we are sure that we’ll have not a landfill, not a dumpsite, but a waste-management facility, which can live side by side with the terminal,’ he confirmed.
KCCA acquired the 230-acre property in Buyala, Mpigi District, on February 14, 2025, at a rate of approximately Shs 70 million per acre, totaling nearly Shs 16 billion. The acquisition was executed as an emergency intervention to handle the capital’s daily waste burden following the catastrophic failure of the Kiteezi landfill.
Until the planned conversion technology is procured and installed, Mr Kigenyi affirmed that garbage from Kampala will continue to be deposited at Buyala.