Lord Mayor Elias Lukwago is opposed to an ultimatum given to city vendors to exit the roadsides.
Kampala City Council Authority executive director, Jeniffer Musisi, gave the vendors a one week notice to vacate the streets, to pave way for better organization of the city.
Musiisi also argues that there are about 8,000 empty stalls in markets in kampala which the traders can be relocated to operate their businesses.
But the Mayor says as the head of the entire authority, they initiated a programme of meeting all stakeholders and service providers in Kampala in which streets vendors were also included. He says he is surprised that the agreed programme has not been given attention by the executive director.
Lukwago said in a statement read by his political assistant ,Deo Mbabazi, has invited all street vendors and hawkers for an emergency meeting on the 5th of August, to discuss the way forward.
The Lord Mayor says the meeting will seek an amicable solution for trade order in the city. Mbabazi says there are no spaces in the market as alleged by the executive director.
//Cue in: He’s calling the vendors…”
Cue out:…occupied by the vendors.”//
The Executive Director invited Lukwago for an emergency meeting after Kampala City Traders Association threatened to strike over the illegal street vending on the 31st of August.
However, Lukwago maintains that at the time the letter reached his office at 10:30 am, he had already left office for field work.
He then informed Musisi that KCCA had already organized a meeting with all street vendors on the 7th of September to discuss the possibility of gazetting a specific area for them.
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