Ups and downs for Masaka fish seller during lockdown

Ms Jennifer Naluwugge, 34, has been a fish trader since 2014.

Ms Naluwugge is a single mother of four and a resident of Bulayi Village in Mukungwe Sub-county, Masaka District.

“I realised I had to find a way of making some money to sustain my family,” she told Daily Monitor as she arranged fish on a clean table just outside her home.

“I noticed that there was a good market for fish around here and in the nearby Masaka Town. We live on the road to the fishing villages of Lambu and Bukakkata on the shores of Lake Victoria. So, I tried out the idea and before long, I realised it was a fairly well paying venture,” Ms Naluwugge says.

She started getting fish from Lake Victoria and selling to people around her home.
“Many of them placed orders for particular types of fish. I deal mainly in tilapia. Some customers want them smocked or deep fried and others prefer them fresh,” she says.

The businesswoman says when her customer base grew, she realised that it was no longer easy to do the business using public transport.
Later, Naluwugge says the business expanded with the addition of more customers on her list, mainly in the nearby Masaka Town and later in some parts of Kampala.

“I started selling fish in Kampala almost by accident. One morning when I took fish to a customer in Masaka Town, who was also a shopowner, I found a lady from Kampala who liked my fish. We had a short conversation in which she told me she had a few friends in Kampala who would support me.

“We exchanged phone numbers and within a week, I tried out the idea and I found it so paying. I would board a commuter taxi in Masaka Town and take the fish to Ndeeba, Kampala, where I found many people waiting to buy it.

“The following week, I got more customers in other parts of Kampala including Mini Price, Shauri Yako Market in Nakivubo and Nkrumah Road. I would go to Kampala about two times a week, but from each trip, I could earn a little above Shs300,000 after taking off all expenses,” she narrates.

With the start of the construction of Nyendo-Bukakkata road that leads to the lake in mid-2019, a few challenges arose.

Parts of the road became nearly impassable for motorcycle riders. Naluwugge still used the motorcycle, but she would push it on flooded areas, which often made her journey much longer. However, the worst challenge was in waiting.
Covid-19 struck in March and the dynamics of business changed.

“The virus greatly affected the working environment. Public transport was banned, yet it was my only means of travel to Kampala to sell my fish. However, I realised people trading in food items were allowed to continue. I immediately thought of how I could deliver fish to my customers in Kampala.

“After all I knew how to reach them on phone. I entered into an agreement with the owner of a motorcycle to use it to deliver the fish to my customers. ,” she says.
This determination and hardwork earned Naluwugge prominence which attracted Good Samaritans to support her and change her fortunes.

She says her breakthrough came last month when Mama Mbona, one of her customers in Kampala, posted her pictures on social media while appreciating her efforts to provide people with food during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“It is Mama Mbona’s post that exposed me to the world. The media people started looking for me to tell my story and I am thankful to God that this has also attracted good samaritans in UK to help me,” Ms Naluwugge says. She says early this month, she received a brand new motorcycle and Shs2m from Paul Kiwanda, a Ugandan living in the UK through his friend Anthony Yiga.

According to Mr Yiga, after watching Naluwugge’s life story on NBS TV, Mr Kiwanda asked him to get in touch with her so that he can extend his assistance.
“We contacted the media house which carried the story and they gave us her telephone number,” he says.

Mr Yiga says after Mr Kiwanda learnt that Naluwugge was hiring the motorcycle, he decided to buy her a motorcycle and boosted her capital. He equally promised to pay school fees for her daughter up to university. The daughter is currently in Senior Four.

Fortunately, Ms Naluwugge learnt how to ride a motorcycle before hiring it to transport her fish. “With a motorcycle in my own hands, I would manage my time better, setting off early for the lakeshore, making my purchases in time from fishermen, and returning to serve my customers,” she says.

Naluwugge now hopes business will get back to normal and she expands her fish business.

Plans
Naluwugge travels to Kampala on Tuesdays and Saturdays. She is saving and trying hard to make more money in order to buy her own motorcycle and to put up buildings on the two plots of land she has bought in Nyendo, a Masaka Town suburb. She also wants to give her children the best education she can.

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