Traders, vendors clash over Nakasero Market

Sep 09, 2011

STREET vendors on Tuesday clashed with traders in Nakasero Market after the market authorities refused to allow them to operate in their premises.

By Jeff Lule

STREET vendors on Tuesday clashed with traders in Nakasero Market after the market authorities refused to allow them to operate in their premises.

The incident happened during a meeting between the Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago and his councillors on one hand with the market leaders on the other.

The group met to locate free space for the street vendors in the market.

Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) enforcement and the Police recently evicted all vendors who had been selling merchandise on the streets.

KCCA executive director Jennifer Musisi said the exercise was meant to clean the city.

During the meeting, the market’s chairman, Godfrey Kakooza, explained to Lukwago and his councillors that the market had no free space to cater for the evicted vendors.

Kakooza said the only free space in the market belonged to their registered traders who had also resorted to the streets to get more customers.

He said over 50 traders were working on the streets, but returned to take up their places.

This forced some of the vendors who attended the meeting to intervene and requested Kakooza to produce a list of traders who had retuned to the market.

The market traders also interjected and asked the vendors where they were while they (market traders) struggled to protect the market from thieves.

There was an exchange of words between the two groups, resulting in fist fights right from the offices to the market itself.

However, Lukwago and the councillors intervened and calmed the situation.

Lukwago also visited Owino and other markets in the city centre.

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