The Minister of Local Government Raphael Magyezi has directed Mbarara City authorities to display a list of market vendors who will occupy Mbarara Central Market before allocation of space.
According to Magyezi, the rightful vendors are those that were initially in the market before the reconstruction started in 2017. Magyezi said that the list should be displayed on March 15th and will last six days.
Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi the Mbarara City Mayor says the display of the register of the vendors will save the row over allocation of space. According to Kakyebezi, the vendors have been patiently waiting for the completion of the market.
Muhammed Nyombi, the Chairperson of Mbarara Central Vendors Association welcomed the minister’s directive, but, expressed concerns about who the government will hand over the market to.
He says that there is still confusion between the vendors who occupied the kiosks in the old market and the Kiosk owners who occupied the market before reconstruction.
Jane Mary Kansiime a vegetable trader welcomed the directive noting that they have been rumors that all the stalls had been given out to rich people. She says many of the vendors have lost hope of repossessing their stalls.
The construction of the 21 Billion Shillings four-storied market located along Buremba Road is expected to accommodate about 3,000 traders. Construction started in July 2017 after more than 700 vendors were relocated to Independence Park.
The government has however on four occasions extended the deadline for completion of the market after the contractor Roko Construction Company failed to meet the agreed deadline which was two years from 2017.
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