Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara has ordered the interdiction of Wakiso Town Clerk Jimmy Mabanja and commercial officer Nathan Mwanika over alleged irregularities in the allocation of stalls at Wakiso Central Daily Market.
Barugahara issued the directive over the weekend during an inspection of the market following complaints that some traders were allegedly asked to pay bribes to secure stalls.
The vendors had been temporarily relocated to allow construction of a new modern market, but some traders complained that their names had been removed from the allocation list despite having operated in the old market.
The minister directed the Commissioner for Urban Administration, Charles Magumba, to write to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government recommending the interdiction of Mabanja and Mwanika.
‘People are complaining. You entered the market at night without alerting them. Some of them even paid money to be allocated stalls,’ Barugahara said.
He also handed Mabanja over to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit for investigation and directed police to trace Mwanika, who allegedly went into hiding.
The directive followed an emotional incident at the market on Saturday when a woman told the minister that she had paid Shs2 million for a stall but was later left off the list of beneficiaries.
The woman alleged that she had given the money to market leaders, including General Secretary Henry Magala, mobiliser Charles Kiwanuka and Secretary for Women Affairs Teo Nakidde.
Barugahara directed police to arrest the three and ordered that money allegedly collected from vendors be returned.
He also disbanded the existing market leadership and supervised the election of an interim committee to oversee the market’s affairs.
Barugahara directed Magumba, Wakiso Resident District Commissioner Justine Mbabazi, Wakiso Chief Administrative Officer Jude Mark Bukenya and Wakiso Town Council Mayor Fredson Mukalazi Kasiwukira to lead a fresh registration of all vendors who operated in the old market.
He said traders who previously operated in the market should be given priority when stalls are allocated in both the temporary facility and the new market.
‘The allocations done by the market committee are null and void. We are going to allocate stalls afresh,’ the minister said.
He also ordered officials to establish whether some traders had been allocated more than one stall and submit a report within three days.
Barugahara also ordered investigations into allegations that government land around the market had been sold to private developers.
Wakiso District chairperson Ian Kyeyune told the minister that the market’s land had allegedly been reduced through irregular transactions.
‘The market land was measuring about eight acres, but the current title indicates only three acres,’ he said.
Kyeyune also pointed to new structures surrounding the market whose ownership he said should be investigated.
Barugahara directed officials to investigate those allegedly involved in the sale of government land and recover any titles found to have been obtained irregularly.
Wakiso Town Council Mayor Mukalazi welcomed the minister’s intervention, saying local governments faced challenges that required support from the central government.
‘A market is one of them. With the trade order, many people were pushed off the streets and they are now jobless. We need more markets like this to accommodate all of them if we are to realise socio-economic transformation,’ he said.