By Bondry Kilenga and Alexander Mackey Okori
Over 300 vendors at Kotido Main Market are grappling with deteriorating sanitization that not only make their job difficult but also pose severe health risks to their lives and the neighboring community.
The market is choking on rotting garbage, resulting in a pungent smell that welcomes visitors to the market.
“Uncollected garbage at the entrance of the market where they sell fresh cassava, potatoes and other agricultural produce, has seen a stench engulf entire pumping site, creating filthy environment not only to the vendors but also the customers”, said John Stephen Okalanya, a producer dealer at the market.
He complained that despite collecting Shs 500 from the vendors daily for market operation, the Municipal Council has failed to ensure timely garbage collection and construct more toilets to cater for an overwhelming number of vendors.
Although we have made efforts to improve the sanitation in the market, it remains the responsibility of the municipal council to collect garbage and transport it to the gazetted dumping site located in the central division just behind Kotido General Hospital.
Pauline Kevin Anyango, another vendor who sells boiled potatoes, demanded an explanation from division authorities as to why they have perennially failed to improve sanitization standards in the market despite collecting money from them for years.
“We pay market dues daily, but we are not safe,” said Anyango. “If nothing is done, we could have a serious health crisis. I urge the Municipal council to intervene urgently.”
Anyango warned that the situation if not urgently addressed could trigger a cholera outbreak as the rainy season is approaching.
Latrine Crisis
Mark Lomoe, a garment dealer said the situation has worsened after the only three stance pit latrine got full to the capacity months ago.
Despite being full, Lomoe explains that the access to the latrine is restricted to only a few vendors by Zakhia Chandia, the proprietor of Sheraton Restaurant who took over its management early last year.
Another vendor who only identified herself as Akongo, said that they are forced to relieve themselves in bushes or return home during work hours, raising serious concerns about hygiene and public health.
“We live here to our places of residence to ease ourselves. We don’t have where to ease ourselves from. We have no latrines,” Akongo noted.
Empty Promises
Zakhia Chandia, the owner of Sheraton Restaurant, located near the affected latrine, blamed division authorities including assistant town clerk, health inspector and Municipal engineer for failing to address issues of poor sanitation and drainage in the market.
According to Chandia, this is the second time the only pit latrine serving a population of over 400 vendors is getting full.
She said that latrine was emptied and renovated in 2022 through the efforts of Kotido Main Market authorities and the central division, with funding from the local NGO, the Agency for Development of Young Farmers (ADYOFU), however, it became full again in October, 2023.
Chandia, when the latrine became full to the beam, the division authorities promised to construct for them a new latrine, a promise which has never been fulfilled upto date.
She explained that due to failure by authorities to intervene, forced to inject her personal funds worth Shs 100,000 to purchase acoustic soda, a chemical locally used to reduce the volume of faecal matter in pit latrines.
“While the solution worked for a year, the latrine is now at full capacity again and multiple attempts to inform Kotido municipal authorities to intervene have fallen on deaf ears”, Chandia stated.
She explained that the vendors continue using the same latrine because they have nowhere to go and relieve themselves from.
Efforts to get a comment from Kotido central division authorities were futile by press time as they were attending a burial planning meeting of one of their staff members who lost a child.
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