Police Fire Teargas To Disperse Wandegeya Traders Over Market Riots

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Police Monday fired teargas to disperse traders who were protesting the leadership of the current chairman of Wandegeya market.

Dressed in yellow T-shirts and caps, the angry traders carried placards denouncing the current leadership led by chairman Jonathan Ggita.

Ggita was temporary appointed by former KCCA Executive Director Jenifer Musisi.

Market women were seen dancing and ululating while their colleagues played drums and urged them on.

Police officers then went after them and kept shepherding them back inside the building to restore order.

The traders were not happy with a directive by City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago ordering chairman Ggita to relinquish his position before the end of today.

The protest came after Mutesasira Mawejje, the chairman Katale zone in Wandegeya filed to the office of the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago on 15th September.

Together with Mai Nabukenya, and Joseph Kalema, the trio accuses Ggita of denying some applicants working space, overstaying and threatening to arrest his opponents.

Kampala Capital City Authority [KCCA] last week appointed a team of five officials to temporarily manage Wandegeya market.

They are Tonny Kawagga, James Byaruhanga, Abdul Anguyo, Esther Kasujja and Henry Bukenya who is the markets manager of KCCA.

The team was taken from the Directorate of Gender and that of revenue collection.

According to Acting Deputy KCCA Director Sam Sserunkuma, the team will start its work in a weeks’ time and will manage the market until KCCA conducts elections in the market.

KCCA is still waiting for the KCCA market ordinance currently at the office of the Attorney General.

Since 2013 when the Ministry of Local Government handed over the market to KCCA, there has been no elected leadership in the market.

With no substantive leadership, the market has been entangled in leadership conflict with the interim committee facing resistance from some vendors and local leaders in the area who have written several petitions to the office of the Minister for Kampala, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and the president’s office.

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