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of the pollution into the lake, while fishing villages account
for 15 per cent and industries for 8 per cent. Further research
(Hutton and others 2007) attributed the rising levels of
pollution in Kampala to:
• Poor sewerage infrastructure, including leaking old sewer pipes,
and poorly constructed and managed septic tanks and sewage
treatment works contaminating ground and surface water; and
• Wide use of pit latrines, especially in the slums, contributing
to pollution of surface and groundwater in the high water
table areas of Kampala.
IMPROVING KAMPALA’S WATER AND
SANITATION SERVICES
Established in 1972, the National Water and Sewerage
Corporation (NWSC) sought to address the need for improved
water and sanitation service delivery in the major urban centres
of Uganda. Over the years the NWSC faced operational and
financial challenges, including high volumes of unaccounted-for
water, caused mainly by leakages and illegal connections, and
accounting for 60 per cent of all treated water. The utility was
also overstaffed, with the salaries and wages bill accounting for
64 per cent of the total operating costs (Baieti and others 2006).
Through reforms that started in 1998, the utility managed
to rehabilitate the water and sewerage infrastructure, and to
increase water production capacity. To further consolidate and
improve performance, the NWSC headquarters later entered
into Area Performance Contracts with its subsidiary utilities
to increase managerial autonomy, introduce performance
incentives and hold the subsidiary operators more accountable.
In addition to improving safe water access and sanitation
services by the poor, the reforms were also designed to
encourage (Baieti and others 2006):
• Simplification by reducing bureaucracy;
• Motivation in order to improve the speed of work with clarity
of expectations;
• Participation so as to increase worker involvement and self
confidence;
• Transformation by removing organizational boundaries; and
• Prioritization by setting appropriate performance targets and
rewarding progress.
According toMugisha and others (2004), NWSC reforms resulted
in improved staff productivity with the ratio of staff costs to