Gulu City Council authorities are preparing to hold elections for departmental leaders at Gulu Main Market, months after the city council took over the administration of the facility under the Markets Act, 2023. The planned elections will replace the former market leadership structure, which included a market chairperson and executives who continued working despite being expected to relinquish their positions two years ago.
Under the new Markets Act, 2023, the overall administration of the market is placed under the administrative authority of the Town Clerk, while a market administrator, commonly referred to as the market master, is appointed to oversee the day-to-day operations.
The law also provides for vendors in different departments to elect their own heads and deputies, who will collectively participate in the leadership and management of the market under the guidance of the market administrator and Town Clerk.
Gulu City Town Clerk, Innocent Ahimbisibwe, said on Wednesday the delay in electing the heads of departments at the market in line with the new law was due to challenges faced by the council in operationalising and sensitising stakeholders. He, however, said the city council officials earlier this year held public hearings and sensitisation meetings with former market leaders and individuals interested in taking up leadership positions.
Ahimbisibwe suggested that elections for departmental heads and their deputies could be held within the next two to three weeks, once the final public hearing and registration of genuine vendors are completed to prevent malpractice.
Gulu Main Market has several departments, including fruits and vegetables, cereals, fish, clothing and shoes, and lockup shops among other categories.
According to Ahimbisibwe, the new leadership structure is intended to end leadership rivalries and create a more decentralised system of managing the market.
He said the former market chairperson had at times appeared to wield excessive authority, creating the impression that the chairperson was the ultimate authority in the market.
Ahimbisibwe said those interested in leadership, including the outgoing executives, should now mobilise support within their respective departments rather than seeking to revive the abolished position of market chairperson.
“For now, the market administrator, the market master and assistant are the ones in charge,” he said.
The planned elections come amid an ongoing police investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement involving the Gulu Main Market Vendors Association, whose leadership is headed by Patrick Omaya.
Omaya and other association officials have been accused of failing to account for proceeds from a truck reportedly purchased using savings contributed by association members, as well as an alleged lack of transparency in the management of the association.
In April, Gulu City authorities, backed by security personnel, blocked a proposed election of departmental leaders at the market that had been authorized by Omaya.
City officials described the proposed election as illegal, arguing that the authority to organise the leadership transition rests with the city administration under the Markets Act, 2023. Efforts to get comments from Omaya were futile by press time as he didn’t answer our repeated phone calls.
Mark Opiyo, a vendor at the market, welcomed the decision to hold an election of new leaders, especially in respective departments, citing that it will limit leaders’ powers and make it easier to hold them accountable. Opiyo, who deals in shoes and clothes, said the decision will also ensure that each leader deals with a small section of vendors, making it easier to identify their challenges to be forwarded to the city council officials.
Gulu Main Market accommodates over 4,000 vendors occupying more than 1,400 spaces comprising stalls and lockup shops-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
