The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 2600 street vendors and hawkers 2600 have registered to operate the newly established makeshift in Lower Nsooba after Kalerwe along the Northern bypass. The market sits on a 4-acre piece of land belonging to Godfrey Mugalu.
Richard Lubega, the chairperson of the Federation of Kampala street Vendors Association, said that they acquired the land when Kampala Capital City Authority started enforcing the Smart City Campaign, which displaced vendors off Kampala streets.
He explained that the owner of the land asked for a lot of Shillings in ground rent, which they couldn’t afford prompting the Uganda Microfinance Support Center and the Executive Director of KCCA Dorothy Kisaka to pay rent for six months, which elapsed before they could take over the space.
He said that they are currently seeking similar assistance from the microfinance support Center and General Salim Sale to pay the ground rent for the next six months since they have started utilizing it.
According to Lubega, each street vendor or hawker pays 35,000 Shillings for registration which includes an Identity card, and another Shillings 50,000 for the stall.
Moses Birungi, the defense secretary of the association, says that each vendor is allocated a space of 4 to 5 meters on a raised platform to avoid flooding because the area is swampy and was backfilled with marram soil.
He explained that currently they are working on the drainage and building bridges that connect the area from the main road to the market so that customers can access it easily.
Eva Nantume, one of the vendors said that their customers are very few since many people don’t know about the new market. Nantume explains that she secured her stall in November last year but they couldn’t occupy the area because the space was being worked on.
Andrew Kasagga, another vendor said that he was a shoe hawker on Allen road in Kampala but when he heard that street vendors were getting space to work from he acquired a stall because he was fed up with being hunted by KCCA all the time.
Victoria Bulasa, the chairperson of the area said that the market sits in Kyebando-Nsooba and Lower Nsooba but most of the administrative activities of the market are done at her LC of Lower-Nsooba.
She said that vendors find it hard to cross the Northern bypass to get services at Lower Nsooba LC where they belong. Bulasa said the introduction of a market in her area has helped a number of residents in the area to get jobs.
*****
URN
