Masaka leaders probe ‘shrine’ inside Nyendo Market
Inside Nyendo market. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Mr Ronald Katenda said he received reliable information that the ‘shrine’ is on the second floor of the market that vendors abandoned.
The Resident City Commissioner of Masaka City has tasked the leadership of Nyendo-Mukungwe Municipality to explain how a traditional healer allegedly set up a ‘shrine’, inside Nyendo Market.
Mr Ronald Katenda said he received reliable information that the ‘shrine’ is on the second floor of the market that vendors abandoned.
“One person has taken advantage of the empty stalls on one of the floors of the market to establish a shrine. The local leaders must explain how a traditional healer occupied part of the floor, which was designed to accommodate vendors,’’ Mr Katenda said last Wednesday.
“It shows the market doesn’t serve its purpose,” Mr Katende added.
It is reported that the shrine is run by a man who only identified himself as Ssentongo. According to Ssentongo, he is not operating a shrine, but “a cultural gifts shop”.
Some of the items inside the said cultural gifts shop, include cow tails, animal horns, leopard skins, backcloth, skins of snakes, cowrie shells, feathers of rare birds, walking sticks, and beads.
Mr Ssentongo said he chose to set up the ‘shop’ due to the high demand for cultural items.
“I chose to bring services closer to the people. I deal in cultural and traditional items and that is why some people call it a shrine, but it is a shop like any other,” he said.
However, Ms Matilda Nabadda, a fish vendor at the market, said Mr Ssentongo operates a shrine and he receives many customers from as far as Sembabule District.
“He calls it a shop so that leaders can allow him to operate freely,’’ she said.
Mr Mulindwa Nakumusaana, the Nyendo-Mukungwe Municipal mayor, said he has instructed the market leadership to investigate the matter.
“Some of the people I have talked to say it is a cultural gifts shop and not a shrine. We are yet to get the truth,” he said.
When the Monitor visited the market last Thursday, the said shrine was closed.
Mr Ssentongo said he had temporarily closed his ‘shop’ following threats to torch it.
While inspecting Nyendo Market last week, the State minister for Economic Monitoring, Ms Beatrice Akello, accused the leaders of Nyendo-Mukungwe Municipality of poorly managing the facility.
She said there was poor sanitation in the market.
Background
Nyendo Market, the second big market in Masaka City, was constructed by the government in 2015 at Shs12.7 billion and President Museveni commisioned it in 2016. The lockups, which were allocated to vendors dealing in clothes, crafts, salons, and electronics, are currently empty while stalls of vendors of agricultural produce are halfway occupied.
