Vendors take over Nakawa Market
Apr 24, 2008
KAMPALA City Council (KCC) has handed over the management of Nakawa Market to the sitting tenants – the vendors, who won the tender to run it.
By Chris Kiwawulo
KAMPALA City Council (KCC) has handed over the management of Nakawa Market to the sitting tenants – the vendors, who won the tender to run it.
Deputy mayor Florence Namayanja said the traders had fulfilled all the requirements to win the tender.
The interim court order halting the award of the market, she clarified, was issued after the vendors had already been given the tender.
“We have not given you (vendors) the tender because we do not respect the rule of law, but because we had already given it out. The court order came late.
“The order was like telling someone to stop eating food when they have already finished,†she said, attracting cheers and ululations from the hundreds of excited vendors.
Namayanja added that the city authorities were “tired of conflicts emanating from the lease or sale of marketsâ€.
She said the Nakawa vendors, who will be remitting sh21m per month to KCC, had beaten seven other firms.
The traders, Namayanja advised, should keep the market tidy and maintain unity.
Nakawa division chairman Protazio Kintu noted that wrong elements were using the market as a hideout to terrorise vendors, especially at dawn.
He appealed to the new managers to protect the traders and their property.
The vendors’ chairman, Paddy Ssentamu, promised to work together with KCC and the vendors to uplift the market’s standards. He said there were about 5,000 vendors with stalls but over 20,000 people operate from the market.
Ssentamu reported that the previous market managers, the Nakawa Cooperative Society, had an electricity debt of over sh60m and that sh40m was needed to clear the accumulated garbage.
Some perched on top of their stalls, the vendors hailed the President for directing that they be given first priority in the running of markets.
The traders sung and danced as they enjoyed two roasted bulls in celebration of winning the tender. The over 50-year-old Nakawa Market is the second largest in Kampala.
It becomes the second, whose management has been put in the hands of traders, after St. Balikkudembe.
Before the handover, a moment of silence was observed for the 20 Budo Junior School pupils who perished in the inferno on April 14.
KAMPALA City Council (KCC) has handed over the management of Nakawa Market to the sitting tenants – the vendors, who won the tender to run it.
Deputy mayor Florence Namayanja said the traders had fulfilled all the requirements to win the tender.
The interim court order halting the award of the market, she clarified, was issued after the vendors had already been given the tender.
“We have not given you (vendors) the tender because we do not respect the rule of law, but because we had already given it out. The court order came late.
“The order was like telling someone to stop eating food when they have already finished,†she said, attracting cheers and ululations from the hundreds of excited vendors.
Namayanja added that the city authorities were “tired of conflicts emanating from the lease or sale of marketsâ€.
She said the Nakawa vendors, who will be remitting sh21m per month to KCC, had beaten seven other firms.
The traders, Namayanja advised, should keep the market tidy and maintain unity.
Nakawa division chairman Protazio Kintu noted that wrong elements were using the market as a hideout to terrorise vendors, especially at dawn.
He appealed to the new managers to protect the traders and their property.
The vendors’ chairman, Paddy Ssentamu, promised to work together with KCC and the vendors to uplift the market’s standards. He said there were about 5,000 vendors with stalls but over 20,000 people operate from the market.
Ssentamu reported that the previous market managers, the Nakawa Cooperative Society, had an electricity debt of over sh60m and that sh40m was needed to clear the accumulated garbage.
Some perched on top of their stalls, the vendors hailed the President for directing that they be given first priority in the running of markets.
The traders sung and danced as they enjoyed two roasted bulls in celebration of winning the tender. The over 50-year-old Nakawa Market is the second largest in Kampala.
It becomes the second, whose management has been put in the hands of traders, after St. Balikkudembe.
Before the handover, a moment of silence was observed for the 20 Budo Junior School pupils who perished in the inferno on April 14.