Panic as Kamuli municipality authorities repossess lockups after 25-year lease expiry

KAMULI - A wave of panic has swept the business fraternity in Kamuli municipality after authorities repossessed over 70 lockups around the taxi/bus park whose 25-year leases expired in 2023.

In the process, those intending to retain the lockups are each expected to pay shillings 10 million.

Local government minister Raphael Magyezi revealed this during a fact-finding visit in Kamuli Town on April 4, 2026, where he cautioned the tenants to obey the order, lest they lose the lockups to waiting parties.

“The leases expired, and the former owners are no longer eligible. The plots and structures now belong to the Municipality,” Magyezi said, adding that this took effect May 1, 2026.

Municipality Mayor Aziz Luwano said the longtime tenants have been collecting rent minus processing lease renewal.

Before the heated meeting in the Council hall, the Magyezi visited the vendors in the Central Market and the Park to establish how they operate and the challenges faced.
Magyezi revealed that the Government shall construct a modern market to accommodate all vendors.

Traders protest

However, the traders protested the directive, saying they were neither sensitised nor alerted to the lease rnewal process and that shillings 10 million is expensive.

“At least shillings five million is ok,” Mubarak Isabirye, the traders association chairperson, said, before Magyezi interjected, saying 10 million is cheap and translates to shillings 200,000 per year.

Luwano blamed the traders for laxity, saying the traders were alerted but didn’t take heed.

Asked about implementation, town clerk Stanslaus Mangasa said the sitting tenants shall be given priority.

The traders, however, accused the authorities of bribery and extortion, adding that many have fallen victim to crafty men who feign helping them to repossess the lockups.