“We Found Those Beliefs and Followed Them”: Karamoja Elders Push to End Open Defecation

In the sweeping plains of Karamoja, elders are urging communities to abandon open defecation, a long-standing practice they say is harming public health but remains deeply rooted in cultural beliefs.

For generations, myths have shaped people’s attitudes toward toilets. Pregnant women are warned that using a latrine could cause miscarriage. Families fear “mixing waste” with in-laws. And in some communities, using the same toilet as everyone else is considered awkward or disrespectful.

Despite years of interventions—sensitization campaigns, construction of toilets, and behaviour-change programs—many of these facilities remain unused.

Joseph Angolere, a member of the Karamoja Elders Association in Kangole Town Council, said most communities still lack proper sanitation facilities and struggle with both cultural barriers and environmental challenges.

“Our soil is too loose. Only those with money can construct proper toilets,” Angolere explained. “The ones we build temporarily often collapse during the rainy season.”

But even where toilets exist, many remain empty.

Angolere said a lingering myth keeps people away from shared latrines: “They fear piling their waste in the same latrine with other family members, especially the in-laws.”

In Naitakwae Parish, he recalled, partners constructed toilets—but residents later turned them into shelters for themselves and goats during the rainy season.

Still, he believes progress is slowly taking hold. “Health programs have created awareness, and people are gradually adopting the use of the facilities,” he said, adding that elders are intensifying efforts to persuade households to abandon open defecation.

Another elder, Timothy Adiaka, has also noticed change—small, but meaningful. “People no longer defecate within the gates like before,” he said. “In those days, feces were everywhere. Now, with sensitization, the compounds are clean from such dirty things.” Adiaka is hopeful the practice will fade as more children attend school.

For many residents, the cultural weight of tradition runs deep.
Anna Mary Namer, from Lolain Cell, said, “We grew up knowing that defecating in the toilet is an abomination.” She explained that women fear the smell from toilets could “enter their reproductive system,” and pregnant mothers worry about “losing a baby in the process of pushing the feaces.”

“We found those beliefs and just followed,” Namer added. “But slowly, we are also embracing toilets.”Still, practical barriers persist. “Termites disturb us when we use local materials. Even digging a pit is a challenge,” she said.

For the younger generation, awareness is increasing but frustration remains.
Joyce Akiteng, a youth from Nadunget Town Council, said many people simply do not know how to use a toilet properly. “Instead of dropping the feaces inside, they smear them all over the floor,” she lamented

“Most of these latrines—you're welcomed with feaces right at the doorway. Now tell me why I should not go to the bush!” She worries the poor use of latrines can spread bacterial infections “more than defecating in an open space.”

According to Ministry of Health guidelines, every household must have a latrine. Yet in Karamoja, about 70% of communities still practice open defecation. A Karamoja Resilience Support Unit report found 64.3% of households lacked latrines entirely. Amudat District had the lowest coverage—just 2.6 percent—while Kaabong, at 69.8 percent, fared best.

The report concluded that cultural beliefs remain a major obstacle—and called for innovative, community-led strategies to improve latrine ownership and use.

But for elders like Angolere, the mission is simpler: keep talking, keep persuading, and keep challenging old myths.

“We are not giving up,” he said. “People are changing—slowly, yes—but they are changing.”