Weyonje, a mobile application (app) created by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) won an award at the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation held in China.

Weyonje is a Pit Emptying Services innovation using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mobile-enabled App.

KCCA’s Marunga Moureen Akiiki said that with over 60% of the population residing in informal housing and only 10-15% of the city connected to formal sewerage; the reliance on On-Site Sanitation (OSS) by 90% of the population necessitates efficient emptying services.

“In this context, pit latrines and septic tanks are often emptied haphazardly by independent pit emptiers, leading to illegal waste disposal in the environment. This innovation (Weyonje) is here to address this & more issues,” Marunga told a press conference.

The KCCA Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka said they are using a holistic approach to address different issues in Kampala using Technology, Innovation, and People Wellbeing.

“And today, we are celebrating technology with the Weyonje App that has won us the International Urban Innovation Award. I am excited because we are celebrating the success,” Kisaka said.

“The Weyonje App is meeting a great need in our communities and hearing the testimonies today from the service providers and community activation teams gives me great joy.

“With the help of the Weyonje App, the faecal sludge collection in the City has improved from 44% to 75% leading to a reduction in environmental impact,” she added.

According to KCCA, several sewage-collecting individual personnel and companies are making use of the application to get tenders for collecting sewage from Ugandans across the country, creating over 15,673 jobs.

The Minister for Kampala Capital City & Metropolitan Affairs, Hajjat Minsa Kabanda, congratulated the people of Kampala for winning the award. I appeal to the public to familiarize themselves with the Weyonje App so you can benefit from it, she said. 

Kabanda said the App has now brought services closer to people, calling upon the public to embrace it.  She said the gap that was left by the private pit emptier has now been bridged after innovating such an application.

The Weyonje is designed for user-friendly access, where citizens can simply download it onto their mobile phones and sign up, enabling them to initiate emptying service requests similar to booking a ride through a platform like Uber.

The Weyonje app introduces several innovative aspects to improve sanitation and faecal sludge management in Kampala.