Old newspapers find their value
Safina Nganda is typical of the classic Owino Market trader. She is usually dressed in a lesu (wrapper), headscarf and slippers, the favoured choice of footwear for most market vendors
By Stephen Ssenkaaba
Safina Nganda is typical of the classic Owino Market trader. She is usually dressed in a lesu (wrapper), headscarf and slippers, the favoured choice of footwear for most market vendors.
At her stall, perched on the ledge of her wooden stall she is surrounded by a huge mountain of local newspapers, magazines and international journals.
But Safina is no bookworm and does not have the slightest desire to know the contents of the literature that surrounds her.
Her interest like a good number of her colleagues is in reaping big out of selling these expired newspapers for a living.
Twice a week, scores of casually dressed men and women crowd different media houses to collect what are termed “returns†(newspapers that have not sold out by day’s end).
At the media houses, the returns are weighed in kilos and valued before they are sold to authorised market vendors who own huge stalls in various markets around town.
“A kilo costs Sh700 and on average, each vendor purchases about 20 Kilos depending on what is available,†says a circulation officer at one media house.
After receiving their consignments, the vendors pile their papers to boda boda motor bikes and pick-up trucks and head to their respective markets.
In St. Balikudembe (formerly Owino) Market, it is chaos at the entrance as the sweat drenched vendors bargain with the hardened gatekeepers asking them to reduce the sh2,000 entrance fee.
“Muli babbi, lwaki mutuseera?†(“Why do you overcharge us?),†they say among the insults they hurl at the usually composed gatekeepers.
After clearing with the gatekeepers, the vendors head to their respective stalls where they are met with hundreds of eager customers.
“Oleese ki, Nze njagala Bukedde, nze ndi wa Visoni,†(“What have you brought today, I like Bukedde, get me The New Vision) the impatient customers often say as they scramble for papers. At the stalls, some people buy a single copy,while others buy bundles.
“The majority of our customers are tomato vendors, mandazi, pancake, chapati peddlers from surrounding markets,†says Safina.
“We also sell papers to agents who then sell them to retailers, drug shops and tea packers,†she adds.
Joseph Buzimulu is one of Safina’s loyal customers. At sh15,000 per bundle, Buzimulu picks three bundles of newspapers from Safina’s stall every morning and goes around town on his bicycle selling them to retail shops. “I sell each copy at sh200 to the different retailers in town,†he says with a chuckle.
On the other hand, John Mbwayamagunda takes his papers to printing companies and paper factories like Oscar Industries where they are recycled and turned into toilet paper, glue and other products.
When I look at Safina’s stall, there are more bundles of Bukedde newspapers than any other papers. Most of our customers crave Bukedde, because of the sleazy pictures and stories,†she says. This is reflected in her sales.
“Out of 10 bundles of papers I sell everyday, five are Bukedde,†she says. With a string of loyal customers, Safina sells two or three bundles of old newspapers a day, which nets her sh30,000 to sh45,000 by day’s end, assuming she has had a bumper sale.
“Sometimes the customer turnout is so low that I can’t even sell a bundle. On a bad day, I walk away with sh3,000,†she says. She goes on to say that customer turnout, depends on the whether conditions.
“On sunny days, we receive many customers, but when it rains, customer turnout is low,†she says.
Despite everything, Safina, a single mother of three says she is happy with her job because it has been able to sustain her children aged two, seven and 10. But it is a hard slog, which requires her to put in a seven-day, 12 hours a day working week.
A few metres away from Safina’s stall Jane Nakilya sits on a small bench beside heap of newspapers. Dressed in a worn out maroon gomesi, she clasps her hands together, her pale face looking rather sad.
Nakilya’s customers are motor vehicle mechanics from Kisenyi, Nakulabye, Katwe and surrounding areas. The mechanics use the papers to cover car screens to prevent them from spray fumes.
“Most of them buy three to four bundles of papers everyday at sh16,000 each, which means a daily income of sh48,000. Her biggest worry though is the sh7,000 monthly revenue collections levied from each vendor.
“The revenue collectors from Kampala City Council (KCC) harass us and confiscate our stock if we delay to pay,†she complains.
That aside, Nakilya has trained her two four and nine-year-old sons how to operate her business. “I have taught them to do this work because it is what pays their school fees,†she says.
Dauda Kigula operates a newspaper stall in Kalerwe and not Owino. But he also deals Magazines like Ebony, Parents, Newsweek, and novels.
Like the others, Kigula is happy that at the end of the day, he has a few coins in his pocket.
Safina Nganda is typical of the classic Owino Market trader. She is usually dressed in a lesu (wrapper), headscarf and slippers, the favoured choice of footwear for most market vendors.
At her stall, perched on the ledge of her wooden stall she is surrounded by a huge mountain of local newspapers, magazines and international journals.
But Safina is no bookworm and does not have the slightest desire to know the contents of the literature that surrounds her.
Her interest like a good number of her colleagues is in reaping big out of selling these expired newspapers for a living.
Twice a week, scores of casually dressed men and women crowd different media houses to collect what are termed “returns†(newspapers that have not sold out by day’s end).
At the media houses, the returns are weighed in kilos and valued before they are sold to authorised market vendors who own huge stalls in various markets around town.
“A kilo costs Sh700 and on average, each vendor purchases about 20 Kilos depending on what is available,†says a circulation officer at one media house.
After receiving their consignments, the vendors pile their papers to boda boda motor bikes and pick-up trucks and head to their respective markets.
In St. Balikudembe (formerly Owino) Market, it is chaos at the entrance as the sweat drenched vendors bargain with the hardened gatekeepers asking them to reduce the sh2,000 entrance fee.
“Muli babbi, lwaki mutuseera?†(“Why do you overcharge us?),†they say among the insults they hurl at the usually composed gatekeepers.
After clearing with the gatekeepers, the vendors head to their respective stalls where they are met with hundreds of eager customers.
“Oleese ki, Nze njagala Bukedde, nze ndi wa Visoni,†(“What have you brought today, I like Bukedde, get me The New Vision) the impatient customers often say as they scramble for papers. At the stalls, some people buy a single copy,while others buy bundles.
“The majority of our customers are tomato vendors, mandazi, pancake, chapati peddlers from surrounding markets,†says Safina.
“We also sell papers to agents who then sell them to retailers, drug shops and tea packers,†she adds.
Joseph Buzimulu is one of Safina’s loyal customers. At sh15,000 per bundle, Buzimulu picks three bundles of newspapers from Safina’s stall every morning and goes around town on his bicycle selling them to retail shops. “I sell each copy at sh200 to the different retailers in town,†he says with a chuckle.
On the other hand, John Mbwayamagunda takes his papers to printing companies and paper factories like Oscar Industries where they are recycled and turned into toilet paper, glue and other products.
When I look at Safina’s stall, there are more bundles of Bukedde newspapers than any other papers. Most of our customers crave Bukedde, because of the sleazy pictures and stories,†she says. This is reflected in her sales.
“Out of 10 bundles of papers I sell everyday, five are Bukedde,†she says. With a string of loyal customers, Safina sells two or three bundles of old newspapers a day, which nets her sh30,000 to sh45,000 by day’s end, assuming she has had a bumper sale.
“Sometimes the customer turnout is so low that I can’t even sell a bundle. On a bad day, I walk away with sh3,000,†she says. She goes on to say that customer turnout, depends on the whether conditions.
“On sunny days, we receive many customers, but when it rains, customer turnout is low,†she says.
Despite everything, Safina, a single mother of three says she is happy with her job because it has been able to sustain her children aged two, seven and 10. But it is a hard slog, which requires her to put in a seven-day, 12 hours a day working week.
A few metres away from Safina’s stall Jane Nakilya sits on a small bench beside heap of newspapers. Dressed in a worn out maroon gomesi, she clasps her hands together, her pale face looking rather sad.
Nakilya’s customers are motor vehicle mechanics from Kisenyi, Nakulabye, Katwe and surrounding areas. The mechanics use the papers to cover car screens to prevent them from spray fumes.
“Most of them buy three to four bundles of papers everyday at sh16,000 each, which means a daily income of sh48,000. Her biggest worry though is the sh7,000 monthly revenue collections levied from each vendor.
“The revenue collectors from Kampala City Council (KCC) harass us and confiscate our stock if we delay to pay,†she complains.
That aside, Nakilya has trained her two four and nine-year-old sons how to operate her business. “I have taught them to do this work because it is what pays their school fees,†she says.
Dauda Kigula operates a newspaper stall in Kalerwe and not Owino. But he also deals Magazines like Ebony, Parents, Newsweek, and novels.
Like the others, Kigula is happy that at the end of the day, he has a few coins in his pocket.