Construction of Kabale market starts

The reconstruction of Kabale Central Market has kicked off after one year of stalemate following disagreements between the kiosk owners and the municipal council.

The process had started in December 2018.
Chongqing International Construction, a Chinese company, has been contracted to do the work at a cost of Shs23 billion.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Mr Ben Kumumanya, handed over the site to the contractor recently.

The reconstruction is expected to take two years.
“Kabale was missing out on markets and agricultural trade improvement programme but I thank the Prime Minister of Uganda, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Kabale District and municipal council leaders that fought hard to have this development here,” Mr Kumumanya said.

A section of Kabale Central Market Traders Association members led by the association chairperson, Mr Simon Mashemererwa, and others petitioned Kabale High Court challenging the reconstruction of the market, claiming their interests and rights were not being taken care of.

The traders were demanding that the council respects and upholds all the occupational permits issued to the lockup owners in the early 1990s because their 49-year leases were running; wanted council to disclose and avail them relocation plan before the construction of the new market begins, asked that designs of the planned new market be availed to them, and wanted to be given 90 days to prepare to leave the premises.

The court issued injunctions in favour of the petitioners leading to stagnation of the reconstruction process. Some of the cases have not yet been determined. The council had to influence a section of traders to elect a chairman supportive of the project under Kabale Central Market Vendors Association arrangement.

On December 5, Kabale High Court judge, Justice Moses Kazibwe Kawumi fined the council and the town clerk, Mr Joseph Monday Bagonza, Shs100m for contempt of court process because they demolished the premises of Kabale Central Market and relocated vendors to new sites yet there was an interim order restraining them from such activities. On the same day the same court lifted the interim order it had given stopping any developments on the market.

The vendors were relocated to Kigongi in Central Division and Mwanjari in Southern Division. At the handover of the site to the contractor on December 20, the mayor, Mr Sentaro Byamugisha, thanked government and AfDB for raising the money.

He referred to those that have filed cases against the reconstruction of their market as saboteurs and selfish but said they should be forgiven.
“Let us pay the fine of Shs100 million rather than losing this multi-billion project. We shall handle the court cases as we construct our market,” Mr Byamugisha said.

The town clerk said the market will be one storey complex comprised of 859 lockup shops and 676 stalls.
The market will have medical clinic, solar lights, day care centre bath rooms, modern restaurants, open market sheds for matooke and Irish potatoes, microfinance, police post and CCTV cameras.

“I want to thank the legal team at the attorney chambers office in Mbarara for their dedication in handling the legal matters of Kabale Central Market. I want to thank the vendors and their chairman, Mr Joshua Mutekanga, for supporting the project to an extent that they demolished their own lockups and relocated to the new sites,” Mr Bagonza said.

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