Kampala vendors given two-week ultimatum to leave city streets

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All vendors operating on the streets of Kampala city's central business district (CBD) have been ordered to leave within 14 days.

The Government says those who fail to comply within two weeks will face enforcement action.

Addressing the media at the Uganda Media Centre on February 5, 2026, afternoon, Kampala affairs minister Hajjat Minsa Kabanda said the move is intended to restore order and improve the functioning of the city.

She warned that anyone who defies the directive will be arrested and prosecuted.

Kabanda said the directive applies to street vendors, hawkers, boda boda riders, and taxi drivers operating from illegal stages.



Meanwhile, the KCCA deputy executive director, Benon Kigenyi, advised those affected to relocate to gazetted markets and designated business centres across Kampala.



This latest directive follows an earlier one issued in October last year, where the vendors were given seven days to leave the streets. However, this directive came to nought.

The October 2025 move, according to the city authority executive director Hajati Sharifah Buzeki, was intended to restore trade order and public safety in Kampala city, by relocating all street vendors who were operating in ungazetted spaces to designated trading locations.

“KCCA hereby issues a directive to all individuals currently operating in unauthorised trading spaces, including roads, walkways and other non-gazetted areas to vacate and relocate to designated trading locations within seven days from the date of this notice, (October 24, 2025),” the statement read.

To support this transition, the director said the Government had availed over 2,000 free workspaces in KCCA-owned markets.

She encouraged the affected vendors to apply through the KCCA market allocation committees and market administrators, who, she says, have been instructed to expedite the allocation process.

The directive came amidst concerns from businesspeople over vendors who often operate on their verandahs, often blocking their customers and interfering with business flow. 

According to the statement then, the Government had provided free of charge trading spaces in various markets around the city, including Nakawa (100), Luzira (120), Ntinda new market (100), Usafi market (1,000), City abattoir (250), Kamwokya market (250), Busega market (500), all totalling to 2,320.