Prime
Sunday street market opens in Kampala
Vendors display their merchandise on Luwum Street in Kampala yesterday. KCCA has allocated Sunday for street vending. PHOTO STEPHEN WANDERA
KAMPALA. Excitement yesterday filled Kampala streets as vendors flocked Luwum Street to sell their merchandise at the weekly Sunday street market.
It is a new shopping experience in the city where vendors are allowed to trade on a stretch from Entebbe Road to Burton Street the whole Sunday.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) deputy spokesperson Robert Kalumba yesterday said more than 1,000 vendors had already registered to do business.
Despite the slow business by yesterday afternoon and the disputed surcharge for doing business along the stretch, many vendors were thankful and hopeful that the new development is “catching fire”. “Jennifer Musisi atugabude” loosely translated to mean ‘Jennifer Musisi has thrown us a party,’.
Mr Vincent Sserugo, who deals in second-hand clothes, said in an interview.
He said most of his product prices were lowered to Shs10, 000 down from Shs15,000 to attract shoppers to buy his goods, hoping that business will pick up in future.
“Many times, KCCA law enforcers have confiscated my goods despite providing no alternatives. Therefore, to me it is a worthwhile development for both KCCA and we the vendors,” Mr Yusuf Kubwa said.
Mr Sulaiman Mukoose, a dealer in assorted goods, like many other traders, said the choice of the day was not favourable. He complained that on Sunday, many people stay at home with their families.
“Sunday is a lousy business day of the week. Many people are reluctant to go shopping,” Mr Mukose observed.
“The initial surcharge price is also still high, yet this is something new that has not picked public awareness yet,” he said.
“I appeal to KCCA to lower the dues to Shs5,000, and when the market picks momentum, it can be revert to Shs10,000 progressively,” he proposed.
Mr Kalumba, however, argued that the charge was a derivative of meeting the costs of after the market cleaning and social hire services like toilets and security costs.
KCCA law enforcement officer Kitumwa Lusoke observed that the new experience is offering them a good public gesture.
“It is a reliever to our operations and it is building a good relationship for our team as it showcases that we are not just after vendors but enforcing trader orderliness as it is exhibiting today,” he noted.
The Market
Sale of food stuffs either raw or cooked; drinks both soft and hard; charcoals and live animals, among others, are not allowed.
The market opens at 8am and closes at 6pm. Entrance is free. Toilet services are free of charge and the use of noise polluting equipment such as loud speakers are not allowed.
