Nabbanja takes part in the National Cleaning Day exercise in Hoima City recently
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Cleaniliness is next to holiness, and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has continued to lecture the business community on the importance of maintaining clean workplaces and proper waste management if their enterprises are to thrive. She linked cleanliness to customer attraction, productivity and wealth creation
Nabbanja said cleanliness should not be viewed merely as a public health requirement but as an important business practice capable of attracting customers, reducing health-related expenses and improving productivity.
She made the remarks during the third National Cleaning Day held recently in Hoima City, where she urged traders and business owners to make hygiene a priority.
According to Nabbanja, customers are more likely to patronise businesses operating in clean environments because they feel safer from diseases associated with poor hygiene.
“When your working environment is clean, more customers will be attracted to buy from you because they are not worried about contracting diseases associated with a dirty environment,” Nabbanja said.
She added that clean business premises create a favourable environment for both customers and workers, ultimately supporting sustainable income generation.
Traders embrace campaign
Business owners and traders in Hoima welcomed the Prime Minister’s message, saying maintaining clean workplaces could help them attract more customers and create healthier conditions for running their enterprises.
Beneficiaries of the Emyooga programme also actively participated in the cleaning exercise, highlighting the relationship between health, wealth creation and productive businesses.
Tadeo Atuhura, the communications manager at the Microfinance Support Centre, said the initiative demonstrated that healthy communities are essential for successful wealth creation.
“As an institution that is mandated to create wealth, we believe that you cannot create wealth when you are unhealthy. So, for this cleaning exercise where our Emyooga beneficiaries have participated, we believe in creating wealth in a clean environment,” he said.
The participation of Emyooga beneficiaries also demonstrated how government programmes aimed at improving household incomes can be supported by initiatives that promote healthier communities.
Cleanliness protects business income
Florence Asaba, the chairperson of the Bunyoro sub-region Emyooga Missionary Group and chairperson of Hoima City West Women Entrepreneurs Emyooga SACCO, described the cleaning campaign as timely.
She said cleanliness is an essential ingredient in business, particularly for traders operating in markets where large numbers of people interact every day.
Asaba argued that keeping workplaces clean could help traders reduce money spent treating illnesses associated with poor hygiene.
“Instead of spending money and time in hospitals, it is better to spend some time cleaning your workplace because in the end, it is you and your business that benefit,” she said.
She warned that dirty business environments could also discourage customers from visiting markets and other commercial premises.
This, she said, could undermine the efforts of entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses through programmes such as Emyooga.
Hoima market backs initiative
Gerald Katwesige, the chairperson of Hoima Central Market, welcomed the government’s cleaning initiative, saying it would enable vendors to operate in a cleaner and healthier environment.
The campaign is also expected to strengthen Uganda’s preparedness to host major international business and sporting events by promoting cleaner cities and public spaces.
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