Market row rocks Tororo
Apr 04, 2004
A row has erupted between owners of lock-up shops in Tororo Central Market and the municipal council authorities.
By Abraham Odeke
A row has erupted between owners of lock-up shops in Tororo Central Market and the municipal council authorities.
The council wants to repossess the 250 lock-ups in accordance with an agreement it signed with the owners 20 years ago.
The owners had agreed, in writing, that they would use the lock-ups for 20 years and then surrender them.
Town clerk Catherine Amal said the council wanted to construct a modern market.
“We have donors willing to fund the construction of a modern market to create room for people who currently have no space in the market,†she said.
Mayor Jack Ogolla said the revamped market would offer better storage and sanitation facilities.
“We want them (traders) to emulate traders in Mbarara, Nakawa and Soroti, who helped their leaders to modernise their markets,†he said.
However, the lock-up owners have vowed to resist attempts to repossess the structures, claiming the Constitution guaranteed them automatic ownership of the plots.
Led by Mark Olinga, the group recenly formed the Tororo Lock-up Owners’ Association to sensitise the over 600 traders.
“If the town clerk and the mayor want our plots, they should pay us compensation of sh2b. The ground rent they have been collecting from us since 1995 should also be refunded,†Olinga said.
“We have written to the IGG and the court about the intended evictions. If the council is serious about its plan to modernise the market, let them start by demolishing the spacious northern section of the market which has no lock-ups,†he added.
He said council officials wanted to grab the plots.
A row has erupted between owners of lock-up shops in Tororo Central Market and the municipal council authorities.
The council wants to repossess the 250 lock-ups in accordance with an agreement it signed with the owners 20 years ago.
The owners had agreed, in writing, that they would use the lock-ups for 20 years and then surrender them.
Town clerk Catherine Amal said the council wanted to construct a modern market.
“We have donors willing to fund the construction of a modern market to create room for people who currently have no space in the market,†she said.
Mayor Jack Ogolla said the revamped market would offer better storage and sanitation facilities.
“We want them (traders) to emulate traders in Mbarara, Nakawa and Soroti, who helped their leaders to modernise their markets,†he said.
However, the lock-up owners have vowed to resist attempts to repossess the structures, claiming the Constitution guaranteed them automatic ownership of the plots.
Led by Mark Olinga, the group recenly formed the Tororo Lock-up Owners’ Association to sensitise the over 600 traders.
“If the town clerk and the mayor want our plots, they should pay us compensation of sh2b. The ground rent they have been collecting from us since 1995 should also be refunded,†Olinga said.
“We have written to the IGG and the court about the intended evictions. If the council is serious about its plan to modernise the market, let them start by demolishing the spacious northern section of the market which has no lock-ups,†he added.
He said council officials wanted to grab the plots.