New Bassajja rules rile meat traders
Aug 21, 2011
THE Police were on Friday deployed at the City Abattoir to calm down meat dealers who became rowdy and shouted at a team sent by Hassan Basajjabalaba to explain new management guidelines.
By Eddie Ssejjoba
THE Police were on Friday deployed at the City Abattoir to calm down meat dealers who became rowdy and shouted at a team sent by Hassan Basajjabalaba to explain new management guidelines.
City businessman Basajjabalaba owns the abattoir.
Chris Katumba, the Jinja Road Police Station chief, led a team of armed Police officers after a meeting organised by Basajjabalaba became rowdy, forcing it to end prematurely. Two groups emerged during the meeting, one supporting the Basajjabalaba management, while the other opposed it and rejected the new management guidelines that were being announced.
Abbey Mugumba, the chairman of the City Abattoirs Traders’ Association, addressed a parallel meeting cheered by a large section of the traders, while another group headed by Issa Nsubuga, an agent of Basajjabalaba, chanted the “No change†slogan. Mugumba’s group said the abattoir was in a poor state, with stinking and dilapidated structures.
They said each trader pays sh12,000 for checking in an animal including sh15,000 for slaughtering, sh2,500 for entering the slaughter house, sh1,000 for skinning, sh1,000 for weighing. They appealed to the Kampala Capital City Authority to intervene, saying the 49-year lease enjoyed by Basajjabalaba, was unfair.
“We want to petition KCCA to cancel the alleged lease and allow the stakeholders to run the place,†Muhammad Kisitu, a trader said.
They also opposed the move by the Basajjabalaba to charge for blood and horns, which had become a hot cake. Each horn now costs sh4,000, while a kilogramme of blood goes for sh1,500.
However, traders wanted it to be shared amongst themselves.
Many claimed they were not benefiting from the taxes they pay.
Katumba asked the traders to send a team to Jinja Road Police Station to discuss the security of the place to avoid further skirmishes.
“We must sit with both sides to establish the root cause of this problem. Otherwise, we cannot go on intervening in your disputes everyday,†he said.
THE Police were on Friday deployed at the City Abattoir to calm down meat dealers who became rowdy and shouted at a team sent by Hassan Basajjabalaba to explain new management guidelines.
City businessman Basajjabalaba owns the abattoir.
Chris Katumba, the Jinja Road Police Station chief, led a team of armed Police officers after a meeting organised by Basajjabalaba became rowdy, forcing it to end prematurely. Two groups emerged during the meeting, one supporting the Basajjabalaba management, while the other opposed it and rejected the new management guidelines that were being announced.
Abbey Mugumba, the chairman of the City Abattoirs Traders’ Association, addressed a parallel meeting cheered by a large section of the traders, while another group headed by Issa Nsubuga, an agent of Basajjabalaba, chanted the “No change†slogan. Mugumba’s group said the abattoir was in a poor state, with stinking and dilapidated structures.
They said each trader pays sh12,000 for checking in an animal including sh15,000 for slaughtering, sh2,500 for entering the slaughter house, sh1,000 for skinning, sh1,000 for weighing. They appealed to the Kampala Capital City Authority to intervene, saying the 49-year lease enjoyed by Basajjabalaba, was unfair.
“We want to petition KCCA to cancel the alleged lease and allow the stakeholders to run the place,†Muhammad Kisitu, a trader said.
They also opposed the move by the Basajjabalaba to charge for blood and horns, which had become a hot cake. Each horn now costs sh4,000, while a kilogramme of blood goes for sh1,500.
However, traders wanted it to be shared amongst themselves.
Many claimed they were not benefiting from the taxes they pay.
Katumba asked the traders to send a team to Jinja Road Police Station to discuss the security of the place to avoid further skirmishes.
“We must sit with both sides to establish the root cause of this problem. Otherwise, we cannot go on intervening in your disputes everyday,†he said.