HABIB SERUWAGI: Why Uganda's New General Cleaning Policy Misses the Mark

Uganda's National Cleaning Day was launched with the promise of transforming civic responsibility and environmental stewardship, but its rollout has already exposed the hallmarks of policy failure. What was meant to be a unifying exercise has instead revealed the dangers of coercion, poor planning, and lack of stakeholder engagement. The architects of this initiative must confront the reality that patriotism cannot be legislated through roadblocks and directives; it must be cultivated through persuasion, structure, and genuine ownership. The coercive nature of the policy is its most glaring flaw. Forcing citizens to clean by halting transport and erecting roadblocks is