By Mwanje Gideon
“Cleanliness becomes a virtue when it is tailored to the needs of the community and grounded in civic duty.” Mwanje Gideon
There is a distinct, undeniable pride that sweeps over a nation when its citizens roll up their sleeves for a common good. When the Cabinet recently announced the approval of the monthly National Cleaning Day initiative setting aside every last Saturday of the month for community clean-up, it signaled a necessary intervention in Uganda’s public health landscape.
The intent behind this policy deserves wholehearted praise. For years, overflowing skips, clogged drainage channels, and plastic waste have plagued urban centers like Kampala and regional municipalities. Many Ugandans including myself strongly support this policy because a safe and clean country is a responsibility for us all. Poor sanitation accounts for nearly 75% of Uganda’s preventable disease burden ranging from malaria to cholera and typhoid. A dedicated monthly clean-up fundamentally disrupts the breeding grounds for these vectors.
In an era where individual responsibility often takes a back seat, physical participation in community hygiene instills a shared sense of ownership and pride in the motherland. I love Uganda, I sacrifice for Uganda and I will always defend Uganda.
However, a policy is weak and unyielding, we have seen this in the very many policies passed by cabinet that come with high spirits but end up in a trash, the examples of “Kawunyemu”, total Ban on Light-Gauge Polythene Bags (Kaveera) in 2009/2010; the government declared a total ban on the importation, manufacture, and use of single-use plastic carrier bags below 30 microns. Unlike other countries in East Africa, in Uganda today kaveera remains the primary source of urban litter and drainage blockages across Uganda, among other policies that we have seen come and go with no impact. This is primarily why it’s hard to enforce a policy compared to a law that calls for prosecution and even a penalty.
When a policy lacks statutory teeth, clear criminal sanctions, or consistent institutional backing, it inevitably ends up in the reality trash bin.
Why Policy Falls Short
Despite its undeniable benefits, the framework chosen to drive this vision reveals a fundamental administrative flaw.
The National Cleaning Day rests on a Cabinet Policy directive rather than an enacted statute of Parliament. Historically, executive policy alone lacks the structural backbone needed for sustained, long-term national transformation.
The Legal Reality is clear that you cannot legally charge, prosecute, or penalize a citizen in a court of law for defying a mere policy directive unless that directive stems directly from an existing statutory power such as a specific statutory instrument or act of Parliament.
Without statutory grounding, enforcing compliance through executive order or security agencies risks arbitrary power overreach, administrative confusion, and legal challenges. If patriotic duty is left solely to policy, compliance decays the moment official enthusiasm wanes.
This gap in policy-driven governance is not for a lack of vision within Uganda’s legislative branch.
A prime example is the National Service Bill, a private member’s bill championed by Hon. Patrick Nsamba Oshabe (MP for Kassanda County North). Hon. Nsamba sought leave of Parliament to introduce legislation aimed at establishing a structured framework for compulsory national service, community development, environmental protection, and civic readiness.
The Content within such legislative proposals focused on structured community work, mandatory civic participation, and disaster readiness would have provided the exact statutory foundation required for initiatives like a National Cleaning Day. Unfortunately, like many private member’s bills attempting to codify civic duties, it received far less executive backing and parliamentary attention than it deserved, yielding priority to temporary administrative policies.
If the Cabinet’s initiative is to avoid becoming a fleeting political campaign, it must transition from an executive policy into legislative reality. True civic transformation requires codifying environmental responsibility alongside the rigorous enforcement of existing statutes: Enact dedicated legislation or a binding Statutory Instrument under the Public Health Act establishing clear obligations, exemptions, municipal responsibilities, and standardized penalties; enforce existing provisions against illegal waste dumping, littering, and discharge into wetlands; strict Ban on Single-Use Plastics (Kaveera) through enforcing the statutory ban on light-gauge polythene materials, addressing plastic waste at the supply chain level rather than relying solely on post-consumer clean-up.
Lastly, empower Local Government Bye-laws, this can be achieved through providing municipal councils with the resources and judicial mechanisms such as specialized environmental courts to prosecute offenders swiftly.
My other thoughts are clear, while the intention behind the National Cleaning Day is commendable, it is not the most sustainable or effective way to achieve a clean Uganda.
Rather than relying on a designated day each month, our focus should be on preventing the disease, not waiting for curing it in the first place. That means enforcing strong laws against illegal dumping, promoting responsible waste management by individuals and businesses, investing in efficient waste collection systems, and maintaining proper drainage infrastructure.
A culture of cleanliness is built through consistent habits, effective enforcement, and reliable public services not periodic clean-up exercises. Such an approach would also help avoid disruptions to economic activity while delivering more lasting environmental benefits.
I looked at my street after the exercise and honestly, it looked better than any other ordinary day but I strongly believe the moment people start their activities, it will look like we did nothing!
A safe, clean country cannot be sustained by periodic goodwill alone. In a time when civic patriotism requires deliberate cultivation, a well-framed law builds enduring systems where policy merely suggests. Let us hope this initiative moves beyond political headlines to take its rightful place in our statute books.
For God and my Country.
The author is a legal scholar at the Law development Centre, Kampala.
