The senior presidential advisor on political affairs Moses Byaruhanga has directed the KCCA law enforcement officers to stop forthwith their acts of impounding merchandise confiscated from vendors because it is unacceptable.
He made the remarks while opening offices and launching the Wandegeya Katanga Kimwanyi zones Traders, Book Binders and printers SACCO Ltd at Katanga playgrounds in Wandegeya.
Byaruhanga noted that it is criminal for KCCA law enforcement officers to continue with impunity to confiscate petty merchandise from suspected vendors and hawkers along major city suburb streets because the government is not aware of any legal public auction program for the sale of such merchandise.
“We have discussed this matter with the executive director of KCCA with her team about the law enforcement officers’ operations of confiscating merchandise from suspected vendors and hawkers to get rid of them under the city trade order bylaw’ noted Byaruhanga.
He said these officer’s actions of confiscating merchandise are purely robbery and it is criminal under the law because KCCA doesn’t have a legal program of auctioning such merchandise and proceeds going into the government consolidated fund.
‘The KCCA mandate is to advise them to go and carry out their petty trade activities at designated places like markets among other places but not to grab and share the victims merchandize’ lamented adding that the victims are extremely poor and vulnerable people largely staying among high poverty endemic ghettos.
He said that the KCCA bosses should ensure that such actions stop forthwith as they attempt to enforce the city trade order byelaws.
He made a donation of 10m towards this SACCO as well as another 10m to a combination of over 30 different groups, small holder vendors and hawkers who largely carry out their petty trade along major city streets.
The chairman of the SACCO and current parish NRM party boss Hassa Wasswa Sempala thanked Byaruhanga for the timely donation saying the government needed to increase the PDM cash to such ghetto communities given their large populations.
During a guided tour of the over 40 different stalls mounted by vendors exhibiting their petty products and accompanied by RCCs and largely NRM leaning politicians from Kawempe division, the vendors appealed to president Museveni to support them financially so that they can graduate their businesses and vacate the streets.
The aspiring Kawempe south NRM party flag bearer Member of Parliament 2026/31 hajjati Madina Nsereko who was the main convener of the event thanked Byaruhanga for accepting their invitation to open the SACCO office and launching it.
She noted that the PDM funds do not adequately and positively cover the vendors and hawkers who must be given special attention in terms of financial resources allocation.
