Among the breaches listed is “littering from cars or driving a car without a dustbin” that will, henceforth, attract a maximum fine of up to Shs6m (US$1,632).

Other breaches included, damaging or disturbing a wetland in a manner that has or is likely to have an adverse effect on any plant or animal attracts, leaving rubbish outside residential premises will also attract a maximum fine of up to Shs6m, depositing rubbish/waste on a roadside, or ditches among others. 

The other listed environmental breaches are too technical, you can read NEMA’s full statement here to avoid falling prey to the fines that go as high as Shs6bn for corporate bodies. 

Coming on the heels of the World Wetlands Day, the new directives were received with mixed feelings among several sections of Ugandans – some cherry-picking what they support and making their feelings known on what they deem ludacris.

The most contentions of them all is the requirement for all cars to have dustbins – a lack of which will set any motorist back a cool Shs6million. 

While NEMA argues that the penalties are meant to “to deter non-compliance to environment laws and to prevent environmental degradation”, some Ugandans have called out the Authority for scapegoating – failure to go after the “big fish” doing “the real damage” in wetlands, polluting lakes and rivers and picking on the already distressed ordinary citizens.

Celebrated journalist and Editor at Nation Media Group – Uganda, Raymond Mujuni explained in a tweet that while he supports the crackdown on littering 100%, he will not be adding an extra dustbin to his car because the car is built with those compartments already.

Similarly, Uganda Christian University (UCU) academic, researcher and scholar, Dr. Angella Napakol expressed concern that there could be some “under the table” invisible hand at play, adding that Ugandans need more education on environmental issues rather than more regulation.

Former journalist and lecturer, Julius Aboko who now works at Parliament of Uganda noted that NEMA’s directive was rather confusing, citing that some motorists may not have anything to throw out of the car in the first place thus placing a Shs6m burden on them may hasten their journey to bankruptcy. 

Uganda, being a largely second-hand car hotbed, a significant majority of the cars on the road can be sold for less than NEMA’s Shs6m penalty – making the move self-defeating in such cases. 

One brave soul David Birungi replied with the worlds “You will be humbled” directly to a tweet by NEMA’s Executive Director, Dr. Akankwasah Barirega showing examples of some acceptable improvisions motorists can adopt. 

Birungi’s reply was accompanied by picture of an empty dustbin on the streets of Budadiri Town, yet it was surrounded by litter as if to make the point that Ugandans are either naturally rebellious or outright carefree.

But look on the bright side

While motorists have valid points, NEMA’s move must be lauded and supported. It is in the best interest of Ugandans that proper garbage disposal, recycling and reuse of plastics is promoted. 

From past experience with polythene bags, helmets for boda-bodas, among other interventions, Uganda has turned into a graveyard for well-intentioned interventions. 

The Last Drop Africa recommends a duo-approach to solve this impasse; civic education and engagement through media after which penalties can be implemented to ensure compliance.

Furthermore, this directive on car dustbins can be a good source of employment for Ugandan innovations who can now turn their ingenuity into creating the bins, even from plastic material – scoring a double win. Entrepreneurs such as Faith Aweko have had bags made out of plastic on the market for over a year now. This directive can help such youth to scale their solutions and achieve profitability. 

Finally, if not for anything else, the NEMA car dustbin penalty will form a benchmark on which Uganda builds a culture of environmental sustenance and self-restraint due the fear of incurring a humongous penalty. 

Let’s face it, the vice of throwing plastic and other litter from car windows, especially buses, taxis and private cars along roads had hit all-time high and needed to be countered, hopefully reversed. With concerted effort, this can be achieved.