Traders petition Parliament

KAMPALA-Traders at  Qualicel Arcade  in down town Kampala have petitioned Parliament and want the Speaker to compel the Attorney General to show the traders the right owner of the building in question.

The traders also resumed work today, after closing their shops for two days last week in protest of alleged double charges by city business man Drake Lubega.

The traders said they held a meeting with the Kampala Central Member of Parliament (MP) Mohamed Nsereko on Friday, who promised to present their matter before Parliament.

The traders are contesting demands by Lubega that they pay rent from November last year to February 2019, yet they had already paid money to his rival, Charles Muhangi who died last year.

"I will go with a few of you to Parliament, and we will have the matter tabled before the floor of parliament," Nsereko said.

Johnbosco Lubwama, a trader at Qualicel said they are fed up of paying their rent to someone and after some time someone else comes and claims to be the rightful owner of the arcade who in the end asks for double payment.

For 15 years, Qualicel Arcade and other buildings, including a bus terminal and a commercial arcade on Plots 50-52 Nakivubo Road, adjacent to Kikuubo business centre, have been a point of contention between Muhangi and the two city tycoons.

Following a court order last year, Muhangi took over the land, measuring 0.57 hectares with the two buildings thereon (Nabukeera Plaza and Qualicel Arcade), before he died on December 6.

He was, however, found dead in his bed at his residence in Buziga-Munyonyo, Kampala on December 6, 2018, and later, Lubega and his team repossessed the properties in February this year.