Fort Portal Tourism City, the proud seat of the ancient and revered Tooro Kingdom, once stood as Uganda’s cleanest and most admired city. Its tidy streets, lush greenery, and breathtaking scenery made it a model of urban excellence. However, in recent years, this reputation has been threatened by increasing waste management challenges and declining sanitation standards.

To restore its lost glory, Tooro Kingdom, under the visionary leadership of His Majesty King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, has launched the “Baragira Kiki” monthly clean-up campaign. The initiative is part of the King’s 25-year Development Plan for Tooro Kingdom and aims to enhance sanitation, reduce waste-related diseases, and rejuvenate the city’s image as a leading tourism destination.

Young leaders, have the power to affect meaningful change and shape a sustainable future for generations to come. Reflecting on this good long awaited initiative a key question arises: Who will be the ideal ambassadors for this initiative, definitely those capable of turning it into a sustainable value system and the youth participation, particularly those in institutions of learning, the different churches in the region, community leaders including reviving the “Burungi Bwansi” Campaign for Communities rather than the city alone. The majority of Fort Portal’s youth have the energy, creativity, and enthusiasm to lead by example and influence behavioral change.

This is where the Laudato Youth Initiative and Laudato Si Clubs come in. Inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, a global call to care for our common home these youth groups have already been active in community clean-up drives, environmental education, and waste management awareness programs for example the Laudato Si Clubs of: Nyakasura School, Divine Mercy, St. Maria Gorreti, Fort portal Diocese etc..

“Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded.” (Laudato Si’, 13) This message deeply resonates in Fort Portal today. The Laudato Youth are ready to embody this call, becoming true ambassadors of hope and change. “Young people must learn these values early in life,” said one Laudato Youth Programs Manager. “If they grow up practicing environmental care, they will naturally carry that responsibility into their families, workplaces, and communities.”

Fort Portal attained Tourism City status in 2020, solidifying its position as a cornerstone of Uganda’s tourism industry. With this new status comes a shared responsibility: maintaining a clean, attractive, and welcoming environment for visitors. A cleaner city not only boosts civic pride but also extends tourists’ stays, increases business opportunities, and stimulates the local economy. The “Baragira Kiki” campaign is therefore more than a beautification effort—it’s a comprehensive strategy for health, livelihood, and sustainable development. Its also an implementation strategy for Uganda commitment to National Clean up Days. 

To achieve lasting results, the campaign must adopt a multi-pronged approach that integrates innovation, education, and collaboration.

Establish reliable and frequent waste collection schedules, with adequate bins in residential, commercial, and public spaces. Plant to regenerate waste into productive use this could also provide employment to the local population and cub the majority youth unemployment.

Encourage residents and institutions to separate waste into recyclable, organic, and non-recyclable categories using color-coded bins. Can schools and all public institutions be guided to take on this campaign.

Invest in sustainable waste management technologies such as composting plants, sanitary landfills, and future waste-to-energy initiatives. Even at local levels waste can be re used for manure and other uses if well sorted

Strengthen existing bylaws on waste disposal and littering, ensuring compliance through education and clear penalties.

Tooro Kingdom’s engagement of the youth, and collaboration with Fort Portal City leaders and development partners positions the region as a potential model for Uganda’s National Clean-Up Day Campaigns. As one of the first cities to institutionalize a major city-wide sanitation drive, Fort Portal demonstrates what strong leadership, community participation, and youth empowerment can achieve together. Moreover, the campaign opens opportunities for waste regeneration projects, turning collected waste into reusable materials and creating employment for young people in the region. As the Laudato Si Clubs have emphasized in their previous visits to the city’s waste management plant, there is immense potential to turn waste into a resource that benefits both people and the planet.

The “Baragira Kiki” campaign poses an important question: What are we doing for our city? and how can this revive the Burungi Bwansi Campaign in Communities. We started something slowly in Saaka with our Club at Mountains of the moon to engage communities we hope the Kingdom can give voice to this Campaign by the Laudato Si Club of MMU engaging the community model.

This is a call to action for every youth, family, institution, church, business, and organization in Fort Portal. Let us recognize the dignity of our beautiful tourism city and take pride in preserving it. A clean, green Fort Portal is not only a reflection of our identity but also a promise to future generations. Together—with the Laudato Youth Initiative, the Laudato Si Clubs, and the Tooro Kingdom’s leadership—we can build a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable Fort Portal Tourism City.

“Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” (Laudato Si’, 217)

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