Sembabule cattle traders run to Kadaga over closed market
Efforts. Cattle keepers take their cattle for grazing in Lwemiyaga County, Sembabule District, yesterday. Farmers say the closure of Lwemiyaga cattle market is unlawful. PHOTO BY ARTHUR ARNOLD WADERO
What you need to know:
- Mr Ssekikubo said three police vans last Friday blocked their market and demanded that traders produce movement permits, which he said is not a requirement if one is to trade within the same county.
Cattle traders and residents of Lwemiyaga County in Sembabule District have petitioned Parliament, protesting what they called unlawful and arbitrary closure of Lwemiyaga cattle market.
The residents led by their Member of Parliament, Mr Theodore Ssekikubo, on Tuesday handed over the petition to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga.
They called for investigations into the role of the police and the Security minister, Gen Elly Tumwine, in the market blockade.
This newspaper understands that Mr Ssekikubo and local leaders have resolved to forcibly open the market, protesting the requirements for movement permits. They also explained that the blockade has nothing to do with the alleged Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
“There is no FMD in Lwemiyaga,” Mr Ssekikubo told Daily Monitor yesterday. “Police are hiding behind movement permits to impoverish our people. They are working for people in Kampala who have personal interests in the market. The Security minister is using police to deny our people livelihood. They are using extrajudicial methods to play politics,” Mr Ssekikubo said.
More than 50 petitioners explained that last Friday, they were blocked from selling their cattle to traders outside their district on grounds that the area had been placed under a quarantine due to FMD.
The petitioners accused Gen Tumwine of ordering the police to close Lwemiyaga cattle market, allegedly to protect his interests in the cattle trade.
Attempts to reach Gen Tumwine were futile as his known mobile phone was unavailable and he did not reply to our text messages.
The petitioners said Gen Tumwine, who hails from the district, is using his office to influence decisions meant to deny them access to the market.
Mr Ssekikubo said the minister colluded with officials in the Agriculture ministry and police to block them from selling their cows.
“Tumwine wants only Kyemamba market because his business associate operates there. The Security minister is acting like a leper with no clean hands as he has become a menace in Sembabule…,” Mr Ssekikubo said.
The petitioners also stated that while the commissioner for Animal Health, Dr Anna Ademun, ordered the closure of Kyemamba, Lugusulu and Rumegyere markets, citing the outbreak of FMD in Mitima Sub-count, she never ordered the closure of Lwemiyaga market.
Mr Ezekiel Gumurisira, one of the aggrieved residents, said district authorities sometimes want farmers to sell their cows at half price. “They want us to sell our cattle at Shs500,000 each instead of Shs1m, which is very unfair and in a way kicks us out of business,” he said.
Mr Ssekikubo said three police vans last Friday blocked their market and demanded that traders produce movement permits, which he said is not a requirement if one is to trade within the same county.
Attempt to reach officials from the Agriculture ministry were futile as our repeated calls and messages went unanswered.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga’s known telephone contact was unavailable.
