You’ll know them by their garbage: What waste reveals about African governments
Along with corruption, once again nearly 75 percent of the countries in Africa that have cities with major garbage problems, are also highly indebted or in debt distress already. ILLUSTRATION | JOSEPH NYAGAH | NMG
Nearly three weeks ago, a vast garbage dump in Kiteezi outside the Uganda capital Kampala, collapsed. So far, almost 40 bodies have been dug out from under the pile that washed off.
There has been a lot of anger and agonising over the disaster. Daily Monitor, the country’s main independent newspaper, in a sobering report on Wednesday, showed how the problem of poor solid waste management was widespread in the country, and that a Kiteezi-like catastrophe was waiting to happen in other Ugandan cities and towns.
