Speaker Kadaga wants traders rent arrears waived by arcade owners

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has appealed to the Ministry of Trade to consider engaging the owners of arcades in the city with the aim of convincing them to waive rent arrears for their tenants who have been out of work since the lockdown was announced.

The appeal comes after a petition that was written by the traders to the Speaker under their umbrella – the Kampala New Generation Traders Association Limited requesting Parliament to  appeal to their landlords to suspend payment of rent arrears for the period their shops have been closed.

“I continue to receive petitions from the public about post covid management. I have a petition from Kampala New Generation Traders Association Limited. In their letter, they request Parliament to appeal to city tycoons owning the closed shopping malls and arcades in the city centre to dedicate this period of the lockdown as a donation towards their tenants and suspend rent arrears and also revise rent fees since their businesses have been affected following the lockdown.”Kadaga later posted on her social media platforms on Thursday 28.

Kadaga later convened a meeting with the Minister of Trade and Industry Amelia Kyambadde and brainstormed on the way forward for the traders whose concerns will be discussed in the Cabinet so as to see the way forward.

“I had a meeting this morning with the Minister of Trade and informed her about this petition. I do hope that the Cabinet will be able to sit and advise the country on what to do.” She added.

It ought to be recalled that even as the country moves into the phased relaxation of the lockdown announced by President Museveni over a week ago, Traders in arcades and shopping malls will remain locked out for concerns over in ability to maintain social distancing in their respective places of work.

Public Transport is slated to be opened next week after over two months since it was banned in late March, while the ban on private vehicles was lifted this week.