How the poor are being ejected from city markets

As different Kampala markets are redeveloped to increase the working spaces for vendors and clear the city of street sellers, the would-be beneficiaries are concerned that ‘connected’ individuals are snapping up the new stalls for themselves. Amos Ngwomoya delves into the intricacies of running city markets.

A wave of despair hovers over 1,800 Kisekka Market vendors as they remain stranded, having been pushed out of the Market project that was initially supposed to benefit them.
The multi-billion market, which is currently under construction, sits on 3.7 acres of land that was leased to the vendors in 2009 on orders of the president, following a violent demonstration over Col. John Mugyenyi’s takeover of the same land.

Kampala City Council (KCC) by then cancelled Col. Mugyenyi’s lease and was compensated with a whooping Shs.14b in 2009. He had acquired the prime land through his company of Rhino Investments.
To date, Kisekka market vendors are still crying foul. They blame the market’s management for selling off stalls to the “rich” businessmen and leaving the poor stranded.
Documents we have seen show that Kisekka Market vendors were given a sub-lease over the land they occupy to form a company and run the market by themselves. This resulted in the formation of Nakivubo Road-Old Kampala (Kisekka) Market Vendors Limited.

A wrangle shortly arose with Mr Robert Kasoro, whose leadership as chairperson is being contested in court, sold shops to over 1,000 “ghost” vendors. Many of the beneficiaries are former or current top officials in government.
Mr Kasoro says some of the shops were sold to nonmembers to raise funds to complete the market. The traders will hear none of this.
The former vendors say they cannot Shs 50m to buy a 10x10 square metre shop. Out of the 2,500 shops in the new market under construction, Mr Kasoro says, 1,700 shops have been sold off. The former vendors in the market under redevelopment are likely to lose out.

Widespread problem
The same problem afflicts the other city markets that have been redeveloped. The vendors have complained to every official they can access, and Kampala affairs minister Ms Beti Kamya had last year promised to an inquiry into the wrangles in the city markets.
Ms Kamya had asked for Shs 300m to fund the inquiry, which we understand has not been forthcoming. KCCA councilors on the revenue collection committee, however, have since embarked a similar inquest.
President Museveni years ago banned the sale of markets to private investors, saying this would shield vendors from oppression. But the practice has continued.
According to the 1949 Markets Act, no person or authority other than the administration of a district, a municipal council or a town council shall be allowed to establish or maintain a market.

However, this Act has been contravened as many private markets still sprout out in the watch of government and as a result, owners end up cheating the vendors who operate there.
For instance, in 2006, the former Kampala City Mayor, Mr John Ssebaana Kizito, passed a City Markets Ordinance and okayed the contractual agreement between city council and private investors to manage markets.
Mr Ssebaana’s ordinance saw many vendors oppressed by investors because they had authority over markets.
Following this public outcry, the president banned all private investors from contracting city markets.
Although the president extended an olive branch to vendors by having city markets leased to them, he didn’t clear guidelines on how it could be done.

Currently there are 51 markets in the city. Of these 24 are privately owned, 19 are owned and managed by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and 8 are owned by Buganda Land Board.
But even within the ones that KCCA manages, complaints abound, arising out of mismanagement, revenue collection and general welfare, among other issues.
KCCA, however, says they aim to redevelop all the markets under their control.
“Our major challenge is resources but we want all these markets completed so that ordinary Kampala people could get workplaces because it’s our core mandate,” KCCA spokesperson Peter Kaujju says.
In 2009, Parliament resolved to secure a loan totaling to $70m from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) to finance the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement project (MATIP).

This was meant to increase production and marketing of agricultural commodities, enhance incomes of vendors, increasing employment and customer satisfaction.
The six markets are; Wandegeya, Ntinda, Nakulabye, Kasubi, Busega and Kansaga Nabutiti. However, it’s only Wandegeya market that has been constructed. Busega market is under construction while the rest remain at large.
These markets would help to reduce the protracted battles between vendors and private investors, who set up markets to maximize profits.
For instance, there are three big markets in the city centre – St Balikuddembe (Owino), Nakasero and Kisekka. But vendors complain that these markets have been hijacked by ‘connected’ individuals.

KCCA powerless
The ‘connections’, our information show, insulate the people running the markets from paying the requisite taxes. Some of the markets have, for instance, not ground rent to KCCA for years and whenever the latter tries to access such places battles ensue.
Whereas St. Balikuddembe (7.7 acres) and Kisekka (3.7acres) Markets were leased to the vendors, there is still a haggling between Nakasero Market Tenants Association and KCCA over the management of the facility.

Nakasero vendors, sitting on 2 acres of land, accuse KCCA of interfering with their activities yet the President made a directive that the market should be leased to them.
They have since stopped remitting revenue to KCCA and the matter is pending in court. Mr Kaujju declined to comment on the Nakasero matter, saying that it’s in court.
St. Balikuddembe, Shauriyako and Nakasero had been contracted to city businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba by Kampala City Council (KCC), the predecessor of KCCA through his trading companies Sheila Investment, Yudaya International and Victoria International Company.
The government later terminated the management contracts with the said companies, leading to Shs 160b compensated to Mr Basajjabalaba.

All the three markets have been dogged wrangles since they reverted to the vendors’ control following the presidential directive to revoke Mr Basajjabalaba’s contracts.
On 11 January 2017, for instance, St Balikuddembe market vendors petitioned Lord Mayor Lukwago over manner in which St Balikuddembe Market Stalls Space and Lockups Shops Owners Association (SSLOA) runs the market.
The vendors accuse SSLOA management of fraud and removing over 3,000 vendors from the list of entitled persons under the lease offered to the vendors on the directive of the President.
They also claim that for the last 17years, they have not held elections for new leaders.
In 2013, the MPs on the Presidential Affairs Committee, which oversees all city activities, sought to cancel SSLOA’s sub-lease to shield the vendors from what they called oppression but the threat was not actualised.

SSLOA Spokesperson, Mr Wilberforce Mubiru, says there 10,000 vendors in the market and that these operate from Lockups, stalls and open space. LockUp occupants pay Shs. 15,000 per month, Shs. 10,500 for stalls and Shs. 10,000 for open space.
Mr Mubiru says that they collect Shs 100m per month from rent. But the vendors say this money doesn’t match the different fares charged; the reason vendors are advancing to demand for accountability from SSLOA. He also declined to delve into details of how much they collect in licenses.
It does not matter which city market one goes to. The problems are the same. Mr Lukwago says the government should intervene in the wrangles in city markets before the issue goes out of hand, for which reason he says he will introduce a new Markets Ordinance.

Trouble in KCCA markets
Some of the city markets managed by KCCA are not spared either. One of the major challenges they face is streamlining management. For instance, some markets still have interim leaders.
These leaders, vendors allege, serve the interests of KCCA. This has been witnessed in Usafi and Wandegeya markets, where both parties continue to bicker over leadership.
Vendors in KCCA markets allege that some of the officials deployed there to collect revenue, tend to inflate costs. However, KCCA has since dismissed this as lies.
Despite KCCA’s reduction of rental charges in Usafi and Wandegeya markets, majority of the stalls, to-date, remain vacant. Vendors have shunned the markets especially due to low customer turn up.

A survey carried out last year by the KCCA Councillors on the committee of revenue collection revealed that these two markets have since been infiltrated by the “rich” who occupy multiple shops and stalls.
They recommended that all vendors be verified and market leaders elected from among the vendors to oversee the re-allocation of stalls and Lockups to the rightful beneficiaries.
“It’s true all city markets have challenges but the most outstanding one is leadership. We have already engaged the attorney general and he will be coming up with guidelines to help us in the management of markets,” says Mr Samuel Baker Emiku, undersecretary in the Ministry of Kampala.

Many of the vendors who were evicted from the streets have vowed not to go to these city markets, citing unfavorable conditions there. They keep looking to return to the streets to ply their trade.
Mr Emiku says there are plans to establish markets in zones to locate dealers in different products in their respective categories.
But even if this were to happen, there is the ever-present challenge of the initiative being captured by ‘connected’ individuals to the detriment of the poor who desperately need affordable market space.

At a glance
The markets. Currently, there are 51 markets in the city. Of these, 24 are privately owned, 19 are owned and managed by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and eight are owned by Buganda Land Board.
Loans. In 2009, Parliament resolved to secure a loan to the tune of $70m from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) to finance the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement project (MATIP).
KCCA powerless.

Nakasero vendors, sitting on two-acre land, accuse KCCA of interfering with their activities yet the President made a directive that the market should be leased to them. They have since stopped remitting revenue to KCCA and the matter is pending in court.
Empty stall. Despite KCCA’s reduction of rental charges in Usafi and Wandegeya markets, majority of the stalls remain vacant to date. Vendors have shunned the markets, especially as a result of low customer turn up.

[email protected]