Wakiso RDC stops revenue collection from food vendors

By Julius Luwemba and Angela Nalwoga

ENTEBBE - Wakiso Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Rose Kirabira has for the past week been moving around several municipalities within the district, to assess the effect of President's directive stopping collection of local revenue from food vendors.

While inspecting projects of different artisan groups in Kampala and Wakiso, in September last year, President Museveni abolished collection of daily fees from vendors especially those with evening stalls.

During her review of government programmes in municipalities of Nansana, Makindye, Kira and Entebbe, where she met several groups of stakeholders, Kirabira cautioned technocrats against collecting daily fees from food vendors.

"If you want to charge them, gazette a place where they can carry out business, and put up all the required facilities for their work," advised Kirabira.

Entebbe Division B chairperson Stanley Namayirira, revealed that he had already banned collecting such fees, even before the president's directive. "They could seize vendors' tomatoes and other fresh merchandise, which would rot at my Division offices," Namayirira noted.

Wakiso Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Rose Kirabira speaking

Charles Magumba, the town clerk for Entebbe Municipality said, currently the municipality revenue collection was  below budget because the taxi park and the market are still under construction.

"Entebbe is city for mainly accommodation and leisure, and those are the only avenues where we collect local revenue," noted Magumba imploring government for more funding.

After her tour of Entebbe Taxi Park and the market, which are both undergoing construction, Kirabira intimated to municipality officials of how President Museveni was "very" angry with the "poor" service delivery by local council authorities.

Kirabira, said funds geared towards programmes like Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP), Development Discretionary Equalisation Grant (DDEG) among others, were a wastage of the country's revenue since "no positive results were yielded."

She tasked each department at the municipal council, to submit their total revenue collection and expenses in the last financial year, to her office.

"President is complaining that all the money is being lost at the local government," added Kirabira saying, as a chief monitor, she ought to do something about it.