By Denis Turyahebwa
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) on Monday morning took to the streets and evicted vendors who had taken over the streets of Kampala.
This follows the minister for Kampala Betty Kamya’s directive last week instructing city authorities to evict all street vendors off the streets as a way of creating trade order in the city.
Minister Kamya in her statement to the Press last week said she had learnt that street vendors were back on the streets with impunity which she said it was against the laws that govern this city and called upon street vendors to respect the spaces gazetted for other activities such as pedestrians and to create pathways into shops.
She said that traders had petitioned her office regarding the issue of vendors and hawkers who have blocked passages to their shops.
Kamya revealed that a team headed by herself including city administrators and councillors had visited Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kigali to benchmark on best practices regarding orderliness in these cities.
“I therefore direct KCCA and Police to enforce the laws on street vendors and hawkers immediately,” she ordered.
The Minister said the public has a responsibility to abide to the regulations and ordinances that guide the city.
Her directives were put into action when the traders KCCA enforcers dressed in Yellow swung into action to confiscate merchandise from traders who had taken over most of the streets of Kampala selling fresh fruits, vegetables, food stuff, toys, electronics, clothes, shoes among other items along the streets.
The enforcement team was backed by Uganda Police on different streets and confiscated merchandise of some of the vendors who had not complied to the directive.
The KCCA team led by Kituuma Rusoke, patrolled the streets of Luwum, William, Kampala, Namirembe and Benidicto Kiwanuka which had the majority of the vendors.
Rusoke told the press that KCCA had received complaints from the public on the increasing incidents of insecurity as pick pockets have taken advantage of the crowds on the streets.
“We shall continue with the enforcement, as we need to create trade order in the city, and create a safe working condition for the tax payers” Rusoke said.
The vendors still maintain that KCCA should find them work spaces as the city markets also have issues that need to be sorted.
“KCCA keeps telling vendors to go to markets like Wandegeya and Usafi but these markets have management issues,” The chairman of the Twagata Vendors Association, Joseph Kagolo said.
