The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Buikwe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 100 vendors have abandoned Lugazi central market in Buikwe district over insecurity.
The market was commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni in December 2020. It is one of the modern markets that were constructed under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP-II), which was financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The market was built with facilities such as stalls, lockups, saloons, banks, pharmacies and daycare facilities among others. It is designed to accommodate more than 1,500 vendors who were previously operating from the old makeshift stalls within the central town.
However, the biggest part of the market is currently vacant as vendors cite high cases of theft, constant power blackout and water shortages. Aisha Kiwanuka, the market chairperson says about 300 lockups and 80 stalls on the upper floor, as well as 200 stalls on the ground floor of the market are still vacant.
Stella Namuswe who deals in second-hand clothes notes that several vendors lost their merchandise to thieves and were forced to look for more secure places from where they can operate. She notes that they appealed to the municipal authorities set up cameras but they have not responded.
Samson Ssemugenyi, another vendor attributed the cases of theft in the market to a lack of power supply. The market was connected to solar panels but they are not enough to satisfy the demand yet their connection to the national grid was disconnected over accumulated an arrears of 3 million Shillings.
Nonetheless, the vendors say that the market has not attracted as many customers. Mercy Kobusingye, one of the vendors dealing in foodstuffs indicates that they prefer working on the roadside where they easily attract passersby other than the enclosed structure where people will only enter on purpose.
Lugazi Municipality Member of Parliament Stephen Sserubula says they are currently engaging vendors to embrace the new market structure. Sserubula faults the Ministry of Local Government which was directly charged with the project for the failure to ensure that the structure has inbuilt cameras to protect vendor’s properties.
However, the Town Clerk Nathan Kitakule says they are still sourcing funds to set up cameras. He says that insecurity challenges would be history if the market had been fully occupied because money from revenues would cover some of the procurements.
But to the contrary, the vendors declined to occupy the market, yet the few who occupied part of the ground floor also failed to remit their dues. The monthly charge for vendors dealing in agricultural produce is 12,000 Shillings.
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