Health facility plan displaces 3,000 traders at Busia border

Leaders in Busia town have committed a 2.9-acre piece of land housing Sofia Market to the Ministry of Health to build a health facility.
This comes after the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr Diana Atwine, met the Covid-19 taskforce response teams of Busia, Elegu, Malaba, and Mutukula borders two weeks ago.

Dr Atwine asked the authorities to provide land to establish modern health facilities.

“Covid-19 has taught us that we need modern laboratories and other vital health facilities at our borders,” she said.

However, the donation of the land has caused mixed reaction from traders at Sofia Market who have been displaced to make way for the health facility.

On Monday, about 3,000 traders at Sofia, an eight-year-old market mainly dealing in fresh foods and fruits, started putting down their semi-permanent stalls to pave way for the construction of the modern health facilities.

Mr Ismael Maganda, a trader at the market, said it was disheartening to leave the market which has been his family’s main source of livelihood for more than 10 years, but had nothing to do because the land has been allocated to construct a hospital.
Another trader, who only identified herself as Nubuwati, said the market has been her mainstay.

“I am a single mother who has been able to support my family of eight children due to the little money I have always earned from this market,” she said.
Mr Yusuf Were, who has been operating two stalls in the market, said the need for a hospital was more urgent than a market.
“Our population has grown, and as a town, the capacity of Busia Health Centre IV is too small to handle these high numbers,” he said.
Mr George Oguttu, a resident of Busia Town, however, thinks whereas the hospital was a good idea, the leaders have failed to consult various stakeholders.
“We are all in need of a hospital, but not on Sofia land because that market has been employing more than 3,000 vendors,” he said
He added that it will become difficult for vendors in the market to get alternative space for operation.
However, Mr Hassan Opio Bwire, the Mayor of Busia and one of the leaders who committed the market land, allayed such fears saying the traders complaining are to be allocated stalls in Busia main market whose completion currently stands at 99 per cent.
Mr Opio said he is excited that the traders voluntarily left the area to pave way for construction of modern health facilities.
“Since the traders have voluntarily demolished their stalls, it is now upon the Ministry of Health to expedite the process of construction,” he explained.
Mr Adrisi Jaggwe, the chairman of the traders, said the closure of the market due to Covid-19, had caused huge losses to them.
“We saw police tear gassing traders as they closed the market and in the process, a lot of merchandise was lost and we are yet to recover from that shock,” he said.

Sofia market
The market was constructed in 2012 by Ugandan traders who had been expelled from a Kenyan market.

It consisted of semi-permanent structures and has on four different occasions caught fire, causing huge losses to the traders.
The 2.9-acre land on which the market has been operating is owned by Busia Municipal Council.

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