The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The delayed operationalization of the daycare center in Arua main market has irked breastfeeding mothers. The daycare center which is located on the first floor of the market has remained under lock and key since the vendors relocated to the new market in January last year. The daycare center is meant to host children under the school-going age who are not meant to spend long hours with their parents in the main market.
Molly Ayikoru, one of the breastfeeding mothers wonders why such a huge facility has remained redundant, saying the council is losing a lot of revenue that would address other needs.
“When we entered the new market, we thought our children will be safely kept in the daycare center but up to now the facility is not working. The city council should start operating the daycare center, which is also a source of local revenue,” Ayikoru said.
Santina Avako, another vendor at the market explains that she was forced to withdraw her niece from school to take care of her 2-year-old baby since the daycare center is not functioning. “We mothers are suffering to take care of our babies in the absence of the daycare center. My niece is the one taking care of my child and yet she was supposed to be in school,” she noted.
Nelson Dada, the chairperson of the Arua Market Vendors Association explains that the day care center has remained redundant for more than a year after its commissioning. He has challenged the city council to consider operationalizing the facility noting that vendors are ready to send their children to the facility.
According to the Arua city council, the daycare center is supposed to generate Shillings 500000 monthly. Cornelius Jobile, the deputy town clerk of Arua City acknowledges the challenge noting that their plans to operationalize the daycare center were halted following a directive by the Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi.
During his visit to Arua city on July 20, 2022, Magyezi ordered the City authorities to halt their plans of relocating the vendors off the streets and reorganizing the market to paveway for investigations into the allocation of lockups and stalls.
Arua Main market was constructed with funds from the African Development Bank to the tune of Shs34.9 billion under the second phase of the Market and Agricultural trade improvement program (MATIP II).
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