Revenue loss disrupts Kabale market services

Kabale Municipal Council is struggling to offer services at Kabale Central Market after failing to realise Shs865m revenue.

The Mayor of Kabale Municipal Council, Mr Sentaro Byamugisha, on Monday said they are  also struggling to clear electricity and water bills, fearing that service providers would soon disconnect them.

Mr Byamugisha said they spend about Shs50m annually on fuelling the truck that collects garbage from the market. 

“We have lost revenue worth Shs865m from Kabale Central Market because the Minister of Local Government [Mr Raphael Magyezi] stopped the technocrats from collecting this revenue until the reallocation of stalls is done transparently,” he said.

Mr Byamugisha said since January last year, Kabale Municipal Council has not collected any revenue from the market after traders took control.

The mayor also revealed that other development programmes such as a kindergarten and food centre had been put on halt.

“As we wait for further directives from the minister of Local Government, we have asked the contractor to construct extra ladders to provide easy access to the lock-up shops because the initial ones were not sufficient enough to provide such access to about 200 lock-ups shops,” Mr Byamugisha said.

The chairperson of the vendors association, at Kabale Central Market, Mr Joshua Mutekanga, acknowledged the council’s efforts in maintaining a conducive working environment, despite funding challenges.

He said the market boasts cleanliness, ample security lights, and CCTV cameras for the safety of traders, even amidst the financial challenges.

Minister Magyezi when contacted yesterday said he is waiting for written communication from Kabale Municipal council informing him about the progress of the market before he comes in to address outstanding issues.

Background

The construction of Kabale Central Market started in December 2019 after the central government secured a loan of Shs23b from the African Development Bank-funded Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvements Project (MATIP).

In December 2022, the contractors, Chongqing International Construction, a Chinese company, handed over the completed new market premises to the Ministry of Local Government and Kabale Municipal Council. 

On January 10, 2023, the exercise of relocating all vendors into the new market started and was concluded after two weeks.

Shortly after the exercise, the Minister of Local Government, Mr Raphael Magyezi, formed a special committee to investigate corruption tendencies that allegedly marred the registration and relocation of vendors.

He banned district officials from collecting taxes from Kabale Central market traders to allow investigations.