Mbarara city council to evict over 200 owners of illegal structures

Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Mbarara city authorities are in the final process of evicting more than 200 people behind illegal structures in the city.

The Mbarara Deputy City Clerk, Richard Mugisha says the suspects took advantage of the nationwide lockdown to erect structures in the city without authorization from the relevant authorities.

He says that some of the illegal structures include stalls and kiosks erected opposite the main gate of Mbarara regional referral hospital, Katete, Kakoba, Lugazi and Nyamitanga among others.

According to Mugisha, they have given the owners of the stalls and kiosks two months to vacate or else face forceful eviction.

He advises the affected people to find empty space in Nyamityobara, Rwebikona, Ruti, Koranorya, and Lugazi markets.

Muhammed Nyombi, the chairperson of Central Market Vendors Association says that the authorities should focus on street vendors instead of kiosks.

He says the vendors have cost them a lot since most of the customers who are supposed to go to the central market end up on the streets.

James Mwesigye, the Mbarara Resident City Commissioner says that both the COVID-19 task force and the security Committee that he chairs agreed to evict the kiosks opposite the hospital gates. He says the kiosks sit on the land belonging to Uganda police, which is not acceptable.

James Munyaneza who operates a kiosk at Mbarara hospital gate has confirmed receiving an eviction notice, saying that he is preparing to leave. He however wants the city authorities to allow them to move by the end of the year given the hard times resulting from the pandemic.

Agnes Musiime, a vendor in Katete says that she has been operating her kiosk for the last three years, adding that evicting her will be a burden to her family. She says getting a stall in the market is a challenge because it needs a lot of money, which she apparently doesn’t have.

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