Rwanda Has A Total Of 3 Companies To Collect & Transport Solid Waste And 2 Companies To Collect & Transport Liquid Waste

Open sewage in Nyabugogo, Kigali

By David Himbara

Open sewage in Muhima, Kigali City

Here are the latest sanitation statistics from Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA).

As indicated, Rwanda’s sanitation sector has 172 companies that fall in five categories as follows:

  • General cleaning services — 141 companies
  • Liquid waste water treatment system — 3 companies
  • Liquid waste collection and transportation — 2 companies
  • Waste recycling and transportation — 23 companies
  • Solid waste collection and transportation — 3 companies.

The most sickening statistics is that Rwanda has only 3 companies that collect and transport solid waste and 2 companies to collect and transport liquid waste.

 

Rwanda has a population of 12 Million of which 1.3 Million live in the capital city, Kigali. How can 3 companies possibly collect and transport solid waste of the entire Rwanda? How can 2 companies possibly collect and transport liquid waste of the entire Rwanda? Much of solid waste in Rwanda ends up either in latrines or ”modern” latrines known as ”septic tanks”. A septic tank is essentially a concrete casing dug into the compound of a household or a business establishment. Both the latrine and the septic tank poison the groundwater. For the past decade, the Kagame government has announced all manner of plans to build a central sewage system for Kigali. None has materialized.