Toiletless men arrested in Uganda

By Abraham Odeke
BBC News, Tororo

"Toilet defaulters" must promise to dig a latrine within seven days

Police in eastern Uganda have arrested more than 70 men because their homes do not have a pit latrine.

They were targeted as part of home-to-home sanitary inspections in Tororo district, intended to ensure that proper toilets are installed.

Tororo district authorities want to discourage people from the common practice of defecating in bushes.

They said "toilet defaulters" would be freed if they agreed to dig a pit latrine within seven days.

"It's lamentable that while the Americans and the Europeans are visiting the moon and are about to reach the sun, in this part of Africa I am busy hunting for people who claim they don't have the time and the technology for making simple pit latrines," Tororo District Chairman Emmanuel Osuna said.

The campaign has not been without its difficulties.

On Wednesday, 50 homes were found to have no toilets during a swoop on Osukuru.

The densely populated area is bordered on one side by River Malaba, which is a natural boundary with Kenya.

Forty of the Osukuru culprits evaded capture by either swimming across the river to Kenya or by climbing nearby high rocks.

The inspections are expected to continue for another month.