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KCCA relocates over 250 street vendors, confiscates 100 kiosks
Impounded. KCCA law enforcement officers take away some of the goods confiscated from street vendors in the City Centre recently. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The authority, in a September 29 notice served to all traders around the city and surrounding suburbs, states that the kiosks were set up without permission.
More than 250 street vendors operating in Kampala have been relocated to markets owned by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) as part of the ongoing Keep Kampala Smart campaign.
The deputy spokesperson of KCCA, Mr Robert Kalumba, said the vendors are part of the several small traders in the city being evicted by the authority for setting up illegal structures in and around the city suburbs.
“We want vendors to trade legally not illegally. That is why we have relocated them to our city markets so that they can be given KCCA trade licence. We have enough space in our gazetted markets that can accommodate all street vendors in the city,” he said.
Mr Kalumba added that more than 100 kiosks, wooden structures and make shift structures which include eateries, phone accessory outlets, and soft drink kiosks, among others confiscated and taken to the KCCA stores in Nakawa.
The authority, in a September 29 notice served to all traders around the city and surrounding suburbs, states that the kiosks were set up without permission.
Mr Jjemba Kanakulya Mulondo, the deputy spokesperson for Kampala City Traders Association (Kacita), told the Daily Monitor yesterday that KCCA issued a notice to the business community of Kampala in September 2021 instructing all vendors to leave the city and join the KCCA markets.
He said because it was Christmas period, the Kacita, KCCA and the landlords agreed not to remove them because they would cause chaos and they were expecting tourists in the same period.
This is not the first time that KCCA has attempted to relocate vendors. The authority has been razing down illegal structures in the city suburbs of Wandegeya, Makindye, Mengo and Lubaga since 2011.
Ms Dorothy Kisaka, the executive director of KCCA, in March last year launched Kampala Smart City initiative, which involved improvements in garbage collection and management around the city.
The law
In accordance with section 72(1) of the Public Health Act cap 281 which states that in the event of contravention of the any of the Public Health rules related to the erection of buildings, the local authority without prejudice has the right to take proceedings for a fine in respect of the contravention and may by notice require the owner either to pull down or remove the works.
Section 14 (1) of the Law and Order maintenance regulations 2006; a person shall not without a permit issued by Council erect a booth, burrow, table or stand on any pavement arcade, foot way or street.
