The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has cautioned Kampala Capital City Authority leadership to advise their enforcers to stop violating rights of Kampala vendors.
Kadaga, who used her official Twitter account said KCCA was taking forever to renew traders’ licences so that it can be in a position to take their goods and also arrest them.
“The vendors say KCCA is dragging its feet on the renewal of their licenses, making them vulnerable to brutal arrests and crackdown on their goods,” reads the tweet.
But KCCA spokesman Peter Kaujju said renewing licences for all vendors in the city is also among the regulations that run the city but it’s not a trap.
“We are only giving licences to vendors in places that are allowed by law. We can not arrest or brutalize them. But vendors on the streets are illegally operating in the city so we can not give them our licences but to evict them. We are to work with other government agencies to evict them peacefully,” said Kaujju.
However, Kadaga urges that every Ugandan is guaranteed equal rights by the Constitution. She advised KCCA to first consider the concerns of the vendors before dragging them into signing new licences.
“The Constitution guarantees every individual a right to work. I, therefore, encourage KCCA to look into the vendors’ concerns,” she said.
According to Kaujju since 2011, KCCA has been battling with street vendors and in this battle, the Authority has constructed several markets for them, this includes Wandegeya Market which accommodates 1,200 vendors currently it’s vendor occupancy is over 60 per cent.
“KCCA constructed Usafi Market on 6 acres land with the general goal of providing a cheaper solution for all traders that were transacting business in non-gazetted areas downtown Kampala. Whoever is Usafi is supposed to have a licence, these are vendors we are talking to renew their licences but not street vendors,” Kaujju noted.
He added that no vendor who operates within gazetted areas has been brutalized.
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