KAMPALA — By mid-morning, Kikoni’s usually crowded streets looked different. Students in gloves bent over clogged drainage channels. Shopkeepers rolled up their sleeves to sweep in front of their stalls. For once, the neighborhood just outside Makerere University’s main gate, better known for its buzzing hostels, cheap eateries, and late-night chaos, was united by something else: cleaning.
The weekend exercise was organized by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS) at Makerere University, but it quickly grew into a community affair. Residents, business owners, and students worked shoulder to shoulder to tackle the sanitation problems that have long plagued Kikoni: litter-strewn streets, overflowing rubbish, and blocked drains that fill with filth when it rains.
“This was about responsibility,” said Woti Ambrose, chairperson of the CHUSS student leaders who spearheaded the event. “Kikoni is home to thousands of students. If we can’t take care of the place where we live, then we’re failing ourselves. A clean environment means better health, fewer outbreaks, and a safer space to study and live.”
Students Take the Lead
For many students, the clean-up wasn’t just about trash. It was about learning what leadership looks like when it leaves the classroom.
“As Makerere, we are supposed to be an example,” said Guild Prime Minister Nsobya Hannington, broom in hand. “We want to inspire a culture of responsibility. It’s not just for us as students, it’s for everyone who calls Kikoni home.”
Freshman Catherine Namusoke admitted she joined because it sounded fun, but she left with a different perspective. “It taught me that being at university isn’t just about lectures,” she said. “It’s also about being a responsible citizen in the spaces we share.”
Third-year student leader David Okello agreed. “We always talk about leadership,” he said. “But real leadership is action. If students show they care enough to clean Kikoni, others will take it seriously.”
Residents Respond
Local business owners and residents, accustomed to complaining about poor sanitation, were struck by the sight of students doing the work.
“This initiative is very important and needs to be expanded,” said Serah Nakibuuka, who runs a plastics shop nearby. “When I saw students clearing the drains, it gave me hope. It shows they are active members of the community, not just people who pass through.”
For hostel caretaker Moses Mugisha, the lesson was sharper. “Students are citizens too,” he said. “But this shouldn’t be their burden alone. For too long, people have complained without acting. Now the students have made the first step. The rest of us must follow. Change doesn’t come without action. You cannot clap with one hand.”
Some residents joined in spontaneously, bringing spades, brooms, and garbage bags. Others worked side by side with students to unclog drains, forming small groups that turned the clean-up into a lively, collaborative effort.
A Bigger Picture
The Kikoni clean-up was also a reminder of deeper problems: Kampala’s waste management struggles, the pressure of rapid urban growth, and the fragile infrastructure around student hubs. In neighborhoods like Kikoni, where thousands of young people live in tight quarters, sanitation is more than a matter of cleanliness, it’s a matter of public health.
That’s why some students, like Rita Kyomuhendo, argue that the effort can’t stop at one weekend. “The clean-up was a success, but sanitation is an everyday issue,” she said. “If students and residents work together regularly, Kikoni could become one of the cleanest hubs in Kampala. We can’t just do this once and stop.”
CHUSS leaders say they see the initiative as the beginning of something bigger. Woti hinted at plans for more clean-ups in other neighborhoods where Makerere students live, framed not only as community service but as a training ground for leadership.
“This is only the beginning,” he said. “Students should not only read about responsibility in books. They should live it, practice it, and show it in the community. We’re already working with partners to expand these projects.”
More Than Trash
By the end of the day, Kikoni’s streets looked tidier. The drains flowed more freely. But perhaps the bigger achievement was intangible: the sense of shared ownership. Students, hostel managers, and shopkeepers walked away with the feeling that Kikoni could be different if everyone pitched in.
As one resident put it quietly while resting on his broom: “Today, Kikoni felt like home, not just a place we complain about.”
For a Saturday morning in Kampala, that was no small victory.
