Owino vendors suspect arson case

Feb 25, 2009

AS the Police started investigating the cause of the fire, traders suspected that their property was deliberately burnt by arsonists. The inferno, they argued ,was a consequence of a deal in which the Nakivubo Stadium management leased a section of the s

By Herbert Ssempogo
and Juliet Waisswa

AS the Police started investigating the cause of the fire, traders suspected that their property was deliberately burnt by arsonists.

The inferno, they argued ,was a consequence of a deal in which the Nakivubo Stadium management leased a section of the stadium land to the Allied bus company.

Under the deal, the bus company, which wanted to build a bus terminal, was to pay sh12m per month to the stadium management for four years.

However, sports minister Charles Balikkudembe ordered the stadium to halt the deal.

Riled traders said the bus owners wanted to get rid of the market to create an entry to the proposed terminal.

“It is obvious that the fire was started by the bus owners,” Juliet Mpanga, a vendor, said.
Sulaiman Katende, another trader, concurred with her, saying the inferno was deliberately started to frustrate them.

According to the traders’ chairperson, Godfrey Busulwa, the fire was started behind the wall that separates the stadium from the market.

Traders alleged that the burning material was pushed through a hole in the wall.

Area councillor, Salim Uhuru, who argued with Inspector General of Police Maj. Gen Kale Kayihura, over the cause of the fire, concurred with the traders.

“I will ensure that the buses do not operate from here,” Uhuru vowed moments after the encounter with Kayihura.

The Park Yard secretary for women, Tausi Katende, said: “I believe the bus owners torched our items.”

The traders warned that they would set the vehicles on fire should the bus company go ahead with their plan.

A boy, who reportedly saw the people who torched the market, was driven away by the Police.

Kayihura, whose vehicle was used to take the boy, could not be reached for comment.

The Mayor, Nasser Ntege Sebaggala, said the fire was linked to wrangles between the traders and stadium management.

“You are all aware of the wrangles between the traders in this yard and the stadium. This area was supposed to be an access road to the terminal,” Sebaggala told journalists yesterday.

He said the vendors remitted sh14m per month to KCC.
Sebaggala pledged to work with the Police to ensure that the culprits are prosecuted.

“We condemn this act and the people behind it. We will work with the Police to find out the cause,” he said, adding that KCC would also hold a meeting with the market leaders to forge a way forward.

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