The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has proposed hiring 432 additional street cleaners and raising the daily wage of existing workers from UGX 6,000 to UGX 10,000, citing the need to improve sanitation as the city continues to expand.
The proposal was presented by KCCA Executive Director Sharif Buzeki before Parliament’s Committee on Presidential Affairs on January 20, 2026, during the presentation of the Authority’s 2026/27 National Budget Framework Paper.
Buzeki told MPs that the increase in both staff numbers and salaries is necessary to cope with the growing network of paved roads in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area.
“Currently, a cleaner is paid a daily rate of UGX6000, we propose to increase it to UGX10,000. The increasing number of roads being constructed will require additional 432 cleaners, we anticipate to add 81.87Km under Greater Kampala Metropolitan Authority,” Buzeki said.
The proposed hiring plan raised questions from legislators, who pointed out that KCCA is also requesting UGX 1.5 billion to purchase street-cleaning machines.
Ruhama County MP Benjamin Kamukama challenged the Authority on the rationale for hiring more workers when mechanised alternatives are also planned.
“In this document, you need an extra 432 cleaners and a simple calculation, at UGX10,000 which you want to pay them, these additional, in a year you need over UGX1.5 Billion, but you are also proposing to procure machines for cleaning at UGX1.5 Billion,” Kamukama said.
“What is the best option and if you procure these machines, are you going to phase out cleaners? Because the cost of extra 432 workers is the same cost of procuring machines, so why don’t you opt for machines which are cheaper? And is it hard to contract out this activity, why should KCCA be the one to pay daily?”
In response, Minister of State for KCCA and Metropolitan Affairs Kabuye Kyofatogabye said mechanisation alone cannot immediately replace workers, especially as procurement may take up to a year.
“At this moment, you can’t lay off workers, because even the machines we are talking about might take even a full year to come, shall we leave the roads like that until the machines are procured? Remember, we are adding on stock in terms of kilometres of paved roads,” Kyofatogabye said.
“So, at one time, we shall need mechanised cleaning of these roads, but also, we shall maintain manual especially when it comes to distillation to avoid more floods. So, we may not over nightly lay off workers, we will maintain them for the next five years.”
The MP further stressed that both salary increments and recruitment are essential to maintain sanitation standards.
Meanwhile, Rubaga North MP Abubaker Kawalya raised concerns about the lack of funding for waste management projects, noting that last year’s tragedy at the Kiteezi landfill highlighted the urgent need for proper waste disposal systems.
“We need to do something when it comes to waste management, last year when we had the atrocity in Kiteezi, we had a discussion over this matter during the budget process and some of us had thought that Government is going to improvise and make sure that this is a done deal, and when you look at their presentation, there is zero money, Government isn’t willing to fund this program, as this Committee, we need to do something,” Kawalya said.
