The Senior Presidential Advisor and Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation, Gen Salim Saleh, and the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Managing Director, Dr. Eng. Silver Mugisha, have called for better land ownership management and institutional coordination as a long-term solution to Kampala’s growing solid waste crisis.

The call was made during a meeting held on Tuesday, August 4th, 2026, in Kapeeka, Nakaseke district, where government officials and stakeholders reviewed the progress of the Organic Dark Matter sanitation initiative, a joint programme involving Operation Wealth Creation, NWSC and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

The leaders argued that Kampala’s garbage challenge is rooted less in inadequate waste collection equipment than in fragmented land ownership and poor coordination among institutions responsible for land and waste management.

“The problem is not a shortage of garbage trucks, but the failure to organize land effectively,” participants agreed, noting that access to suitable land for processing and disposing of organic waste remains constrained by complex and contested land tenure systems.

The Organic Dark Matter initiative was launched earlier this year to respond to Kampala’s sanitation challenges. The city generates an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 metric tonnes of waste daily but collects less than half of it. Around 80 percent of the waste is organic, making it particularly difficult and costly to manage.

Officials noted that while NWSC operates Kampala’s sewage and faecal sludge treatment infrastructure, including treatment plants at Bugolobi, Lubigi and Nalukolongo, as well as the Kinawataka sewage pre-treatment facility, most city residents remain outside the sewer network and rely on pit latrines and septic tanks that require regular emptying by cesspool trucks.

The upgraded Bugolobi treatment plant, with a capacity of 45,000 cubic metres per day, also produces biogas from treated waste, while dried sludge is processed for agricultural use.

During the meeting, stakeholders concluded that resolving land ownership and management issues is essential for expanding waste treatment infrastructure and delivering a sustainable solution to Kampala’s sanitation problems.

Gen Saleh linked the discussion to his broader development philosophy outlined in his recently published book, Organizing Land for National Economic Transformation: Kapeekanomics, Industrialization and Uganda’s Development Logic, co-authored with development scholar Dr. Pascal Odoch.

The book argues that Uganda’s development constraints stem not from a shortage of land but from poor organization and coordination of land resources. Gen Saleh presented a copy of the publication to Dr. Mugisha on the sidelines of the meeting.

The discussions also highlighted Kapeeka as an example of coordinated land use for economic transformation. Home to the China-Uganda Liao Shen Industrial Park, the area has evolved over the past decade from predominantly agricultural land into a major manufacturing hub hosting dozens of factories.

Gen Saleh commended NWSC and Dr. Mugisha for rapidly extending water infrastructure to support the expanding Namunkekera industrial area. The corporation upgraded the Kapeeka water supply system, drawing water from River Mayanja to serve industries and surrounding communities.

Dr. Mugisha reaffirmed NWSC’s commitment to strengthening collaboration among government agencies, improving institutional coordination and mobilizing development partners to advance public health, environmental protection and sustainable waste management in Kampala.

He said closer cooperation among institutions would be critical to addressing the city’s persistent sanitation challenges.

Kampala’s waste management system has come under increasing strain in recent years, including during Uganda’s first National Cleaning Day, when the volume of collected waste overwhelmed collection teams and temporarily clogged the Buyala disposal facility.

The meeting was attended by former State Minister for Water Ronald Kibuule, National Environment Management Authority Executive Director Dr. Akankwasa Barirega, Ambassador Phillip Idro, and KCCA Director of Environment Dr. Zalwango, among other officials.