The collapse at the landfill in the northern Kampala district of Kiteezi in August buried people, homes and livestock in mountains of fetid waste.
Three officials of the Kampala Capital City Authority were charged with 57 counts of manslaughter and criminal negligence, Uganda police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke told AFP.
They will be remanded in prison until November 4 when they will able to apply for bail.
The three were fired in September by veteran Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni.
Under Ugandan law, a conviction of manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, lawyer Moses Sserwanga told AFP.
"The charge of manslaughter against a government official arising out of official duties is unprecedented and we eagerly await to see the outcomes of the court process," he said.
The landslide on August 10 followed torrential rains that battered the East African country, triggering extensive flooding and damage.
In August, Museveni said he had ordered payments to the victims' families of five million Ugandan shillings ($1,300) for each fatality and one million shillings ($270) for each injured person.
The 36-acre (14-hectare) landfill was established in 1996, according to local media reports, and takes in almost all garbage collected across Kampala, about 1,500 tonnes a day.
The city's mayor, Erias Lukwago, had warned in January that people working and living nearby faced numerous health hazards due to overflowing waste from the Kiteezi dump.
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