Uganda's Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Balaam Barugahara, has reallocated more than 204 lock-up shops at Kabale Central Market to tenants as part of a wider effort to address alleged irregularities in ownership and protect vendors' livelihoods. The exercise forms part of the minister's ongoing anti-corruption tour of the Kigezi sub-region, during which he inspected the market to establish who the rightful beneficiaries of the shops should be.
Barugahara alleged that some shops had been controlled by individuals posing as landlords, with some of those individuals reportedly owning other properties within the city. He accused officials within the municipal administration and Kabale District Local Government of allegedly creating fictitious landlords in the system to claim ownership of the shops, a practice he said undermined the rights of the intended beneficiaries. To formalise the new arrangement, the minister personally signed more than 204 occupancy agreements with the beneficiaries, giving them formal documentation for their respective shops.
The minister also warned individuals accused of intimidating vendors against interfering with the new beneficiaries, saying those found responsible would face action. He stated that some beneficiaries had been intimidated and that those involved should stop interfering with the traders. The exercise is intended to address concerns over the allocation and control of market facilities while ensuring that the shops serve the traders they were established to support.
Kabale Central Market was constructed in 2019 by Chong Chong International Construction, a Chinese company, under the World Bank-funded Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme. The market forms part of government efforts to improve trading infrastructure and support agricultural trade and vendor livelihoods. The latest allocation exercise comes amid wider efforts to address alleged corruption and administrative irregularities in the management of public facilities across the Kigezi sub-region.