Entebbe councilors given ultimatum to handover lockups to vendors
Minister of Local Government Raphael Magyezi (L) is welcomed to Kitooro Taxi Park by Entebbe Mayor Fabrice Rulinda on April 09, 2025. Photo | Paul Adude
What you need to know:
- The Entebbe Municipality MP Michael Kakembo criticised the municipal council administration for paying a blind eye as the councilor’s allegedly assigned themselves lock up shops
The Minister of Local Government Raphael Magyezi has issued a one week ultimatum to Entebbe Municipality local councilors who allegedly allocated themselves lock up shops in the newly opened Kitooro Taxi Park to vacate them for the rightful vendors.
“If they don't remove themselves, you remove them and give them the bill, beyond that, we shall see what happens. Leaders, councilors and technical officials don't involve yourselves in these lock-ups, it is conflict of interest for you to be the supervisor and you become the owner or the operator of these things” he said.
Mr Magyezi added, “If you know you’re a councilor and you have a lock up shop here, give it to the town clerk, don’t make a mistake of placing it under another person’s names, pseudo names, your relatives, it isn’t acceptable, hand them over to the town clerk, the allocation committee will reallocate them to other people and you have to refund all the money you extorted from people” he said.
Mr Magyezi made the remarks while chairing a meeting between vendors and municipal council officials over the alleged misallocation of shops in the park, this followed an impromptu visit by the Minister to the Kitooro Market and Kitooro Taxi Park on Monday to assess recent complaints raised by vendors in both business areas of self-allocation of stalls by councilors.
“You don’t have a right to use a government facility to extort money from the people of Entebbe, if they gave you a lockup and your sub renting it at Shs600,000 while you report Shs120,000 to council refund that persons money and if you were made to buy a lockup here Shs10m, Shs25m, it’s your right now to demand it, I have my lawyers here, we are going to empower you and we open a case, we must end this robbery,” he said.
Mr Magyezi said he would seek for an engagement with the Minister of Transport Gen Katumba Wamala to find a way of resolving conflicts between feuding passenger service vehicles operators that in the municipality.
Mr Magyezi further ordered for the arrest and investigation into councilors including Ms Jackie Kimera, Mr Yasin Semaganda, Mangeni Lovin, Kitoogo Asadu and Aisha Nansubuga over the alleged misallocation.
However Mr Magyezi said street vending outside the market will not be allowed but would oversee the review of rent rages for traders, raze down container shops constructed around the park among other things to ensure proper management.
Ms Doreen Kyalimpa who has been working in Kitooro for close to 20 years said she has spent close to four months trying to get a lockup in the taxi park to no avail.
“Every time I come to look for a shop, they tell me it costs Shs500,000 and they want payment of upto six months, other lockups they tell you were bought by a Sudanese, other ones were rented out by many people but they don’t sub rent them to other people,” she said.
Mr Denis Magezi one of the vendors that relocated from the old park in 2017 when the construction began said the old vendors were not given priority to get lockup spaces as had been promised at the beginning of the construction.
“After the park was recently reopened, none of us roughly 114 vendors original vendors got a lock up shops, upon checking the lists the names of the people who were allocated lockups, they were unknown. Kiosks are being constructed around the park to compete with vendors within which isn’t fair, all the lockups here on the ground floor all belong to the councilors,” he said.
Mr Joseph Lwanga Lukyamuzi who has spent 32 years operating in Kitooro market urged the government to re-look at the market design to allow for easier accessibility to the market and upper levels for both vendors and shoppers, ensure proper electricity and water supply to run the market smoothly.
The Entebbe Municipality MP Michael Kakembo criticized the municipal council administration for paying a blind eye as the councilor’s allegedly assigned themselves lock up shops.
