Why Busega Market stalls remain empty

When the government unveiled a plan to construct a modern market at Busega, a Kampala suburb in February 2015, vendors were thrilled by the announcement.

But eight years later, the new three-storey market structure remains unoccupied.

However, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and market authorities blamed the delay on the construction of the access road to the market.

Mr Disan Kiryowa, the secretary general of Busega New Market, says although the market is now complete, the access road connecting to the market is in a sorry state and needs to be fixed first.

“Good enough, the road is being worked on by China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd and will possibly be complete by the end of this year,” he says, adding, “As soon as the roadworks are done, vendors will occupy their market.”

KCCA spokesperson Simon Kasyate says the allocation of stalls at the new market will soon start as they wait for the roadworks to be completed.

Vendors near the market, however, asked the authorities to expedite the process.

“We continue to operate in filthy conditions yet the new market is empty. We really don’t know why they don’t allow us to occupy the well-designed stalls at the new market,” Ms Suzan Nakabuye, a vendor, says.

Ms Rosemary Nalwoga, another vendor, says: “We go through a lot because the old market lacks clean toilets and the place is filthy, which most of the time forces many customers to shun our products and buy from other markets.”

“Another problem is limited parking space. The old market has no parking and we are losing customers because of that,” she adds.

Mr Kiryowa says the first phase, which was financed with a Shs20 billion loan from Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) was completed in 2016 but the second phase, which was financed by the government at a tune of Shs25b, was delayed.

“So, the delay by the government to release some portion of the funds to complete phase II partly slowed down work,” he says, adding, “When the money came, our contractor, Arab Contractors Ltd, had already left the site and we hired a Chinese firm, Complant Engineering and Trade Uganda Ltd, which has completed the work.”

Mr Kasyate says the contractor handed over the project to the authority in December 2022.

“The New Busega Market is different from other markets because the change of design required budget adjustments whereby the government had to look for extra funding to cater for the new designs,” he says.

“Definitely, the capacity of the market has increased and this will enable the government to accommodate more vendors. This will also help in decongesting the streets,” he adds.

The market has a working space for at least 3,000 vendors, which is twice the number currently working at the makeshift market.

It will have an agro-processing facility, stalls, lock-ups, shops, cold rooms, restaurants, a parking yard and loading and unloading areas. It also has drainage ways, solid waste bays, firefighting facilities, washrooms and banking halls among others.

The government had planned to redevelop 21 markets across the country between 2009 and 2014, but due to late release of funds and management wrangles among vendors, construction works for some markets were delayed.

The markets include Jinja Central Market, Wandegeya, Busega Market, Mpanga Market in Fort Portal, Lira Market and Mbale Market.

Others are Busia, Arua, Soroti, Lugazi, Moroto, Entebbe, Mbarara, Tororo, Kasese and Kitgum.