Mbarara City Slums: Resilience Amid Sewage, Poverty, and Survival Struggles

Since gaining city status in 2020, Mbarara has seen a surge in population, fueling the growth of slums such as Kisenyi, Byafura, Kijungu, Kajogo, Kiyanja, Kiswahili, Baghdad, and Kashanyarazi. Rapid urbanization has led to overcrowded, informal settlements lacking basic amenities.

Residents face severe sanitation woes, with sewage flooding streets during rains and garbage piling up, breeding mosquitoes and sparking diseases like cholera, malaria, and typhoid. Many homes lack toilets, and low-income families resort to contaminated streams for water, as jerrycans from communal taps cost Shs200.

Daily life involves early job hunts in informal sectors like construction, scrap collection, or vending. Women and children queue for water, while others endure hardships. Irene Asasira, a mother in Byafura slum, fled domestic violence from Ntungamo and now raises her children in a makeshift home after odd jobs and abandonment.

Neighbors like Alice Komujuni lament constant illnesses from filth flowing from city centers, ignored by authorities favoring upscale areas. Ahmed Ssembirige, chairperson in Biafra, highlights the dangers of stream water mixed with sewage. Musa Mwebembezi, a mall cleaner in Kisenyi, shares toilets and queues amid deplorable conditions.

Unemployment drives youth to alcohol, drugs, and petty crime, with teens like Andrew Bakimbona noting robberies in dark alleys. Children skip school to collect bottles or firewood, unable to afford extra fees despite free primary education. Violence, prostitution, and theft stem from poverty and idleness.

Leaders like Edirisa Ndawula urge sanitation fixes and demolishing unsafe structures after collapses injured families. City officials, including Mayor Robert Mugabi Kakyebezi and Town Clerk Justine Barekye, cite funding shortages but plan upgrades, halting temporary builds, and enforcing standards.

Yet, hope persists through saving groups, mutual aid during losses, and social cohesion, even supporting arrested locals. Experts blame urban poverty, poor planning, and politics, echoing the 2016 Uganda National Housing Policy on slums housing 60% of urbanites due to unmanaged growth.

Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)