Prepare vendors before eviction, Busoga kingdom urges Jinja City Council

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Busoga Kingdom has advised the Jinja City Council to give vendors sufficient time and guidance before implementing eviction measures in the city, warning that the current approach risks disrupting the livelihoods of many traders.

According to the kingdom’s second deputy Katukiro Ahmed Noor Osman, even though the vendors are operating illegally, authorities ought to mobilise the vendors and give them time to prepare and vacate road reserves and streets instead of ambushing them.

“We want you to clean the town, and we know it, but it is our appeal as Busoga kingdom that you restrain and give people some time to see how they would prepare and leave because this is where they earn their living,” he urged.

The Katukiro, who owns a building in the central business area on Nizam Road East where he runs a fresh fish outlet, said many people were piling businesses on his verandah, but this did not require ambushing them.

“I also own a business in town, you find people piling businesses on verandahs, which is not good, but you need to prepare people instead of ambushing them, they have nowhere to go, they need time,” he noted.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Busoga media annual Iftar dinner at the Jinja City Hall on March 15, 2026, where he acknowledged receiving numerous calls from vendors in Bugembe, Namulesa, Mafubira and the Jinja taxi park.

He appealed to authorities to rescind their move and give people ample time as they prepared their next steps.

City authorities earlier announced plans to demolish all illegal structures in order to promote trade order, effective Monday (March 16).

Many vendors, fearing confiscation of their merchandise and losses, quickly removed their kiosks, particularly in Bugembe trading centre. The move created anxiety among locals about the likelihood of rising insecurity since many people, especially youth engaged in chapatti making and chicken roasting, feared for their jobs.

However, Jinja city mayor Alton Kasolo maintained that the city would proceed with enforcement against those who ignored the directive starting today, Monday.

Since Jinja is a tourism destination, he said a trade order was necessary to enable the city to compete with other cities around the world in promoting tourism.

“People go to cities in Africa like Kigali, Addis-Ababa, to spend time and money, which is possible in Jinja, Uganda. One may have a small house, but if it is maintained, it can be admired. It may not require big buildings and good roads around, but it starts slowly to get where we want,” he said.

He commended the public for their cooperation in removing illegal structures and vacating the streets.

“I want to commend the public for being cooperative when we called them that we needed to come together and clean the city, and we shall be coming Monday to make enforcements,” he announced.

Jinja city deputy speaker Sirina Kyakuwaire urged residents to avoid mixing politics with development.

Henry Mujimba, the chairperson of the Jinja Central Market vendors, welcomed the enforcement, saying it was long overdue.

Since 2015, when vendors started occupying the market after its construction and commissioning, he said, many had abandoned their stalls and instead joined those operating outside the market.

He said some vendors were benefiting from the disorder and expressed optimism that sustained enforcement would benefit market traders since everyone would operate from the same place.

“If the enforcement is sustained, we shall benefit as market vendors because we had some councillors who owned between 5-10 kiosks who were against the demolition, but since it is a nationwide operation, it isn’t discriminatory,” he said.