Jinja market food vendors protest over garbage

Food vendors from Jinja Central Market protesting

Sarah Kisakye, a food vendor in Jinja Central Market woke up early Tuesday morning and went to do her daily work of cooking food in Jinja central market, but did not make any money.

She said that for the last two days, she has failed to sell any food due an awful smell from uncollected garbage at Lady Alice Muloki Road, formerly Scindia road in Aldinah village in Jinja municipality. 

"The situation has become unbearable and we have lost customers due to the smell and flies emanating from heaps of uncollected garbage," Kisakye said. 

Kisakye is not alone. More than 100 food vendors are facing the same and are losing customers due to the unpleasant stench from uncollected garbage and this prompted them to protest by blocking Lady Alice Muloki Road.

Police officers stopping food vendors from going with the garbage to Jinja town hall

Police officers led by a one Asiimwe, the acting officer in charge of operations at Jinja Central Police station faced a hard time in calming the vendors who were also joined by other residents.

Vendors collected garbage and dumped it in the middle of the road, paralysing traffic for close to four hours.

They got sticks and saucepan and started drumming them as they threw garbage all over the road.

Residents were seen walking with the garbage in buckets heading to the municipality offices, but were blocked by Police officers. Even those who tried to jump on bodabodas were blocked.

One of the garbage heaps at the market

Henry Mujimba, the chairperson of Jinja Central Market Traders Association agreed with the vendors' actions of protesting saying municipality officials have taken long without collecting garbage from the market, yet vendors pay fees for garbage collection.

"Vendors pay between sh10,000 to sh15,000 per month for garbage collection and over sh40m is collected monthly from the market, but JMC officials have neglected collecting garbage and I request government to intervene," Mujimba said.

 "When it rains, rain water washes the garbage and dumps it into the market posing a risk to people's lives," Mujimba said.

When New Vision contacted the Jinja town clerk, Francis Byabagambi, he was noncommittal and said he was heading to a security meeting in the DISO's office.