The issue of pollution is one of the predominant issues in most countries. Littering has made most beautiful-looking streets look like the ghetto. The government has tried to reduce the habit of littering and sometimes it has proved abortive.

Uganda’s National Environment Management Authority is a semi-autonomous institution charged with regulating and supervising environmental management in the country. This agency has announced new penalties for polluters, including fines on motorists driving cars without dustbins. This new law will take effect from the 1st of April.

The penalty that comes with littering from cars or driving a car without a trash bin is a maximum fine of up to six million Ugandan shillings. The offenders who refuse to pay will be subjected to prosecution and imprisonment or a fine determined by the court.  

Albeit, at the moment, passenger buses that travel over long distances are obligated to have dustbins. This new requirement has drawn the attention of drivers to ask whether there is a specific standard of what can be considered a bin.

The agency set a standard when the spokesperson stated that a plastic bag cannot be used as a bin and the legal definition will be presented in the next amendment.

The agency’s penalty scheme includes a wide range of environmental breaches such as littering from commercial buildings, disposing of waste on a roadside, and throwing trash in a river, stream, lake, or channel.

A greater fine of up to 100 million Ugandan shillings will be imposed for importing, exporting, manufacturing, using, or reusing plastic bags or plastic products made of polymers of ethane and propylene that are below 30 microns.