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New Mbarara market joins list of idle giants
An aerial view of Mbarara Central Market, which was completed in March and handed over to local authoritie. PHOTO/SHEILLAR MUTETSI
What you need to know:
- The Mbarara Central Market was constructed by the government of Uganda under Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme with funding from the African Development Bank. It was expected to host more than 1,000 vendors.
Authorities in Mbarara City have faulted the Local Government ministry for interfering with the operation of the newly-constructed market.
On March 14, there was excitement among traders and leaders in Mbarara after Roko Construction Ltd handed over the Shs21 billion Mbarara Central Market to city authorities. However, the facility has not been occupied three months later.
The Minister for Local Government, Mr Rapheal Magyezi, had set April 12 as the deadline for the last vendor to enter the market.
The city leadership now heaps blame on the Local Government ministry over its alleged involvement in the allocation of stalls and kiosks to vendors without consulting them.
“We as council had already played our part and registered the vendors, but the ministry came and took on our roles without consulting us. They are responsible for this mess,” Mr Bonny Tasobya Karutsya, the speaker for Mbarara City, said at the weekend.
He said the market’s construction was delayed for five years and the further delay to have it opened will affect revenue collection.
Ms Betty Tigefeera, a city councillor, attributes the delay to irregularities in registration and allocation of stalls to vendors.
“The issue of the central market was exaggerated. People were told the market could accommodate thousands of vendors yet it has a less capacity. However, it is not too late as the matter can be resolved,” she said.
The City Resident Commissioner, Mr James Mwesigye, said the delay gave the authorities enough time to resolve the matters involving registration of vendors and allocation of stalls and lockups.
“With the confusion about the market, I am glad we had to take off enough time to investigate the matter. The situation would have been worse had we rushed to open it,” he said.
“As the RCC’s office, we were assigned a role to re-register all the vendors that were initially in the market before being relocated as well as knowing the number of stalls and pitches in the newly-constructed market.”
Mr Mwesigye said they have been able to penalise the culprits that used the market to extort money from vendors.
Mbarara City North Division MP Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari said the market was supposed to cater for low income earners, but some well-placed people acquired stalls dubiously.
But Mr Magyezi said corruption in the allocation of stalls has crippled the entire process.
“Many rich people bought 15 stalls at Shs150m in the central market. I thought they were foolish until I realised they would be able to make it within 2 years of occupying the market,’’ he said.
“We investigated and found a problem of corruption, unfair stall distribution and fake documentation at the time of signing the memorandum of understanding that occurred, especially between 2017 and 2020,” he added.
