Traders petition Parliament over Kenyan debt

A number of Ugandan traders who lost merchandise after getting caught up in the throes of the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya have petitioned parliament to intervene in their plight over what they claim is the Kenyan government's failure to redeem its promise to compensate them to the tune of $47m (about sh156b).

Through Igara East MP, Michael Mawanda, the traders claim they are running the risk of losing their assets that had been mortgaged in their attempts to raise capital as banks seek foreclosure.

The 2007-08 Kenyan crisis was a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the highly contested presidential elections.

The ensuing violence saw a number of Ugandan traders incur colossal losses as irate mobs torched their trucks laden with goods destined for Uganda, while others tried to uproot rail slippers of the train link between Mombasa and Uganda.

"The Kenyan government had promised to pay, a report indicating genuine claimants written and submitted. But nothing has been done which has forced banks to move in and start attaching their assets," Mawanda, a lawmaker with a strong connections with the business community said.

Mawanda later told the press that Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, met a section of the affected Ugandan traders in 2010 over the issue.

That meeting, Mawanda said, was attended by the Kenyan minister of trade, and the Attorney Generals of Uganda and Kenya.

Although the House did not debate the issue, Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga asked the trade minister, Amelia Kyambade, to explore ways of expeditiously pushing for the payment to forestall the specter of traders losing their property through foreclosure.

The Kenyan maritime port of Mombasa remains Uganda's main link to the coast, with much of Uganda's exports and imports handled by the said harbor