The Ministry of Local Government has ordered the removal of 83 private landlords from lock-ups at Mbale Central Market after a four-day verification exercise found that they were occupying council facilities and renting them out to vendors.
The physical verification exercise, which ended on Saturday, confirmed 514 vendors among the 604 lock-ups inspected at the market.
The exercise followed complaints raised by vendors during a recent visit to the market by Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara over alleged unfair allocation of lock-ups and high rental charges imposed by private landlords.
The verification was led by Ministry of Local Government Assistant Commissioner Ettedu J.J. Geoffrey, together with Industrial Division Town Clerk Geoffrey Mugisha.
Ettedu said the exercise established that 83 of the verified facilities were occupied by people who had obtained the lock-ups from the city and were subsequently renting them out to other vendors.
He said the ministry had directed the landlords to hand the facilities back to the vendors, stressing that allocation of market facilities is the responsibility of the city council.
“One person, one vendor, one facility. You either have a lock-up, you either have a stall, you either have a pitch or you have an open space. You cannot have more than one,” Ettedu said.
He said the verification exercise also enabled the authorities to collect Shs17.5 million in outstanding market fees after some vendors cleared their arrears.
The exercise left 67 lock-ups unverified, which Ettedu said would be subjected to a fresh allocation process.
He urged the market allocation committee to ensure that the facilities are allocated transparently, with consideration given to women, youth, elderly people and vendors who had previously operated in the market but missed out during the initial allocation.
“The Council is going to advertise and get prospective and intending vendors to apply for them, and the Allocation Committee will be able to give them,” Ettedu said.
Mbale Central Market Administrator Michael Ojambo said the exercise would help ensure that rightful vendors occupy the council-owned facilities.
He called for enforcement of the law prohibiting private individuals from letting out market facilities belonging to the city council.
Vendors welcomed the removal of the private landlords but called for continued monitoring to ensure the changes are sustained.
Wakoli Ferguson, a textile vendor, said private landlords had made the market expensive for low-income traders and urged city authorities to sensitise vendors about the official market rates.
Madoi Ali, a vendor and market ambassador, said the exercise would give traders confidence to operate their businesses without intimidation. He also said ending private control of the lockups could increase council revenue, which could subsequently improve service delivery at the market-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
