Ankole roadside markets a ticking time bomb

Many markets in Ankole Sub-region are located in road reserves and even on the roads, which puts the safety of vendors and their customers at risk.

Leaders in the sub-region attribute the issue to poor planning of towns.

The markets include Kagarama in Kagarama Town Council, Ntungamo District; Nyamayenje on Ntungamo-Rukungiri Road in Rukungiri District; Ntungamo on Ntungamo-Kabale Road in Ntungamo Municipality; Kagango on Mbarara-Bushenyi Road in Sheema Municipality; Kyambura Market and Ndekye Weekly Market both in Bunyaruguru County, Rubirizi District.

Mr Muhammad Byansi, the Mbarara City Councillor, said: “Roadside weekly markets like Nyamityoboora and Kakyeka are very risky to our people. Businesses are done in the middle of the road but we do not have land to relocate these markets. We need a quick intervention to address this, otherwise it will catch us unaware.” 

Mr Sam Mucunguzi, the Ntungamo District chairperson, said: “Anything can happen anytime and we are likely to lose many people but when you are relocating, you need enough resources. As the district council, we are working on a masterplan that, among others, seeks to have some of the markets relocated to safer places.”

The mayor of Ntungamo Municipality, Mr Jacob Kafureeka, reiterated the fund shortage challenge.

“We are aware of the jam caused by traders during market days, especially those on the roadside. We always use traffic police and our wardens to avoid accidents but are looking for resources to relocate these markets to safer places. Traders are also careless because they operate almost in the middle of roads during market days,” he said.

In Mbarara, the district chairperson, Mr Didas Tabaro, said they have started relocating some of the vendors to other safer markets because road accidents had become rampant.

“We relocated traders in roadside markets operating in Bwizibwera-Rutooma Town Council on Mbarara-Ibanda road to Rubindi daily market,” Mr Tabaro said.

The Greater Bushenyi police spokesperson, Mr Marcial Tumusiime, said they are engaging leaders to have the markets relocated.

“We foresee a calamity happening anytime because of the roadside markets like Kagango in Sheema Municipality. We are engaging leaders but they are yet to respond to our plea. It is very dangerous because during market days, it is messy and dangerous for both road users and those in these markets,” Mr Tumusiime said.

His counterpart in Rwizi region, Mr Samson Kasasira, said the responsibility for managing these markets falls to the leaders of the respective areas.

“As police, we have no responsibility in these markets. We can only come in when leaders seek our intervention like providing them with traffic officers but we also observe that these markets operate in extremely dangerous conditions because anytime an accident can happen and claim many lives,” he said.

Mr Moses Akampa, a trader in Rwebikoona market, said they are aware of the dangers but added that relocating the markets could negatively affect their businesses.

“We might be relocated in areas which are far from the city centre and become an inconvenience to our customers. We are living on God’s mercy because in case an accident happens many people are likely to lose their lives,” he said.

Background

In July 2016, an accident at Rwahi Trading Centre in Kayonza Sub-county, Ntungamo District, left 10 market vendors dead and many others injured. The incident occurred when a lorry lost control on the Mbarara-Kabale Road, veering off and striking the vendors who were operating within the road reserves. Police attributed the accident to vendors’ disregard for repeated warnings to avoid operating in road reserves.

In August 2019, another devastating incident occurred when a fuel tanker exploded at Kyambura Trading Centre in Rubirizi District, killing at least 22 people. The tanker driver lost control while attempting to negotiate a corner and crashed into two parked vehicles. Authorities later attributed the explosion to charcoal stoves used by vendors near the road