By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: There is a bitter war over sewage raging on between Benson Tumuramye, the executive director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA), and Jane Ruth Aceng, the minister for health.
Our Spies have learnt that Aceng accuses Tumuramye of looking on as the manager of his block of flats in Kyanja empties gallons of sewage in her plot of land, which neighbours his flats. As a result of this sewage war that has been raging on for years, on Saturday Tumuramye’s employee identified as Jimmy Mwogezi was arrested by police and officers of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and charged with illegal disposal of sewage. After being arrested, Mwogezi explained that the single soak pit at Turamye’s Flats is very small and insufficient to serve the 3 blocks with 21 units, reason why he was emptying the sewage in the nearby plot.
Mwogezi is expected be charged at the KCCA court on Monday following a statement made by the KCCA Sewage and Drains officer Siraje Ndugga. “Improper disposal of sewage is not only against our regulations but also poses grave health risks like the recent cholera problem,” said Ndugga. When contacted by the KCCA officials on Saturday, Tumuramye told them on phone that the waste is being disposed at a ‘safe’ place. Mwogezi was using a sewage emptying mortar to pump refuse from Tumuramye’s septic tank into Aceng’s land. “When I came here in 2014, I was trained on the handling of the machine (mortar) to empty the soak pit whenever it is full,” said Mwogezi. Aceng told KCCA officials that she had raised the matter with Tumuramye for several years but he kept giving her a deaf ear and blind eye about the sewage depositing in her land. However, the KCCA sewage and drain boss stated that Mwogezi’s actions pose serious health risk to the neighboring community and he is liable for prosecution for that. Mwogezi will be arraigned in theCity Hall KCCA Court on Monday to face charges that will be read out to him.
