Swimming to Work

After a long and daunting series of extreme heat throughout February and early March of 2025, it is the rainy season once again in Uganda. This period will run for around two months, according to the Uganda Meteorological Centre, the national body that deals with weather forecasting. The season is a highly anticipated one for the majority population in Uganda who are farmers, given that agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy. However, I would be a blatant liar if I said that it is all smiles all over the country. For the majority population housed in urban areas, particularly in the country’s capital Kampala and its metropolitan areas, the season is a time for loss and sorrow. You see, the sad fact about the matter at hand is that most roads in Kampala during this season are impassable, unless, of course, one is willing to either slide or “swim”. The heavy rains that blessed the morning of March 27th and 28th saw the newsrooms and front pages of newspapers filled with images of floating house items, stranded pedestrians, and cars submerged in floods (e.g. here or here).  This is the same story year in and year out whenever the season comes around. But how did we get here and what does this state of affairs cost us?

For many residents of Kampala, heavy rains do not just mean a change in weather, they signal yet another battle with rising floodwaters. In areas like Bwaise, Katanga, and Kisenyi, the sight of people wading through waist-high, contaminated water on their way to work or even children while going to school is disturbingly common. While floods damage property, disrupt businesses, and cause economic losses, the most devastating consequences are those on public health and human rights. (Levy, B. S., & Patz, J. A. (2015). Climate change, human rights, and social justice. Annals of Global Health, 81(3), 310–322.) In 2021, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) formally recognized access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right. This declaration was later confirmed by the UN General Assembly in 2022. The Ugandan Constitution in Article 39 recognised the right of people to a clean and healthy environment (1995 constitution). Similarly, the National Environment Act also provides for this right (Section 3). However, for thousands of Kampala residents, this right remains but a distant dream.

Healthwise, flooding in the capital is a public health crisis that exposes residents to contaminated water, increasing the spread of diseases, and exacerbating socioeconomic inequalities. Women, children, and marginalized communities bear the brunt of these effects, as they often lack the capacity to get resources to relocate or adequately protect themselves from the hazards of urban flooding. Floodwaters in Kampala are heavily polluted with garbage, sewage, and industrial waste, creating an ideal environment for disease outbreaks. As people wade through these stagnant pools created by the flooding, they often expose themselves to a variety of illnesses, including waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, and dysentery, which put thousands at risk of severe illness or death (see Relationship between Flooding and OutBreak of Infectious Diseases In Kenya). Stagnant water provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes, leading to an increase in malaria and dengue fever cases. Constant exposure to dirty floodwaters leads to fungal infections, skin rashes, and respiratory diseases caused by mold and damp living conditions. Even beyond the physical illnesses, floods and their effects such as destruction of property and deaths take a toll on the mental health of victims. The trauma of losing homes, livelihoods, and loved ones to floods creates long-term stress, anxiety, and depression. This is particularly the case in the vast majority of instances for residents in these areas as they are low income earners who lack the financial means to rebuild their lives.

Various stakeholders are to be blamed for these issues. These are the residents themselves, who construct in wetlands and dump waste in drainage systems plus local governments that have failed to improve the infrastructure of the areas to withstand the pressure from the water.

Firstly, rapid urbanization in Kampala has been on the rise in recent years. However, many elements of these developments raise questions as to whether they meet the standards for control of these hazards. Kampala Capital City Authority is the statutory body charged with managing the developmental affairs of the capital. It therefore oversees aspects such as construction planning for public facilities and regulates private developers. However, a large part of the city with infrastructural developments has poor drainage infrastructure which has worsened the flood situation. A big example for this is Queens Way that was recently developed and commissioned by the president earlier on this year that flooded despite it being just recently worked on. There definitely is a level of poor planning on the part of the institutions that are charged with solving these problems, thereby exacerbating the harms associated with floods.

Secondly, floods in kampala are on the rise partly due to poor environmental management. In simple terms, the city is reaping the environmental damage that it has consistently sowed. Wetlands, once the city’s natural flood absorbers, have been replaced by settlements and industries. This has increased surface runoff and reduced water infiltration, making floods more severe. Even the efforts made at wetland restoration have in majority of the instances been selective , targeting only the poor while leaving the rich to continue with their illegal settlements and constructions that encroach on the wetlands in the area. This has exacerbated the harm.

Garbage disposal is another major problem with many residents dumping waste into drainage channels, clogging them and forcing water to overflow into roads and homes. Despite efforts by the Kampala Capital City Authority to upgrade drainage systems, the problem persists due to inadequate waste management, poor enforcement of building regulations, and continued wetland destruction.

The flooding in Kampala does not affect all residents equally. Informal workers, who form a significant portion of Kampala’s labor force, often lose income and residences when their workplaces and homes are submerged. Small businesses that are often run by vulnerable populations such as women, Persons With Disabilities(PWDs) and the poor struggle to recover from flood damage, and transportation costs skyrocket as roads become generally impassable. Healthcare facilities, already stretched thin by all sorts of diseases and insufficient resources, experience an influx of patients suffering from flood-related illnesses, further straining medical services. Women and children are disproportionately affected, as they are more likely to live in flood-prone areas with inadequate sanitation and healthcare access.

The global climate emergency is worsening urban flooding, making it a human rights issue that requires urgent action. As extreme weather events become more frequent, vulnerable populations will continue to suffer the most. The UNHRC has called on governments to protect these communities and implement measures to build resilience against climate-related disasters. For Kampala, this means investing in flood-resilient infrastructure, such as improved drainage systems and stormwater management, restoring wetlands to serve as natural flood buffers, strengthening waste management systems to prevent drainage blockages, enforcing building regulations to prevent illegal construction in flood-prone areas and providing timely healthcare and disaster response support to communities most affected by floods in.

Therefore, Kampala’s flood crisis reminds us that natural disasters are inter twinned with key human rights issues such as health. With each heavy downpour, thousands of residents including children face life-threatening conditions due to government inaction and poor urban planning. It is crucial that stakeholders take concrete steps that are targeted at ensuring that the crisis is adressed and the lives of people are improved. It is not until that many people in Kampala will stop swimming to work, navigating not only floodwaters but also the systemic failures that allow this crisis to persist.