state minister of Kampala Benny Namukwanya

The government is set to deploy police officers in Kampala city to supervise the works of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) enforcement team following the death of a city vendor last week.

A 35 years old Olivia Kasemere on Friday drowned in Nakivubo channel after she was said to be running away from KCCA enforcement officers who were allegedly chasing her over street vending.

Addressing journalists at the office of the president, the state minister of Kampala Benny Namukwanya notes that since police officers are more trained, they will supervise the enforcement officers and advise them on the does and don’t to streamline the city.

She however noted that they are waiting for the report from police about the circumstances under which the vendor died before the government takes the next step of action.

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MP Medard Ssegona consults with Cosase chairperson Abdu Katuntu and deputy chairperson Anita Among during the probe last week.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) officials have been grilled over the failure to remit over one billion and 47million shillings of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions for its workers.

The officials led by the deputy director KCCA, Sam Serukuuma, were last week appearing before the Committee on Commissions State and Statutory Enterprises (COSASE)which was chaired by the deputy chairperson, Anita Among, to answer the auditor general queries of 2014/2015.

The human resource manager KCCA, Richard Lule, informed the committee that the arrears had arose after they had misinterpreted the law on whether political heads, revenue officers, enforcement officers and casual workers were eligible to remit money to NSSF. He later said KCCA had recently remitted all the arrears.

However, the MPs on committee led by Lubaga North MP, Moses Kasibante and the Mbarara Municipality MP,  Michael Tusiime, were quick to question where KCCA had gotten the money to remit to NSSF when the funds were never provided for.

Lule was quick to clarify that the money was provided in the budget and even taken care of the 5 percent that was meant to be paid by employees.

MPs later realized that even though Lule and the deputy Executive director, Sam Serukuuma had assured them they had paid all the money it wasn’t true as KCCA still had arrears of 7bn hence prompting the committee to put Lule on oath.

After the oath Lule admitted that even though they had paid all the money they were yet to pay for the penalties and interests amounting to 14 percent of the total money which they incurred after failing to remit the money in time.

The committee also later realised that KCCA has not been remitting money to NSSF amounting to 7 billion even though they have deducting the 5 percent from the employees.

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Students of Old Kla SS on strike recently

OLD Kampala Senior Secondary School has today Monday July 24, 2017 witnessed a change of leadership of the school following wrangles that had threatened to tire the school apart pitting some teachers and Old student’s association against the out-going head teacher Azida Ntegana Nsubuga.

The rivalry had culminated into a student strike last week that turned ugly when a police officer fired live bullets seriously inquiring one student leading the ministry to temporarily close the school as they investigate further.

The ministry has however, responded by appointing James Mulomi, the outgoing headteacher of Budiope SS, to run it with support from the Ministry and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) for unspecified period. The school is expected to re-open on Wednesday this week with parents coming along with their children as a condition for re-admission, according to recommendations of a probe committee in its final report.

Reports indicated that the students on July 13, 2017 staged a strike in the school protesting the transfer of their head teacher Ntegana .The students who gathered in the school compound with placards later became rowdy vandalizing school property before police was called in to quell the situation.

Following the closure of the school on July 14, Robinson Nsumba-Lyazi the director for basic and secondary education, set up a seven member probe committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the strike.

The committee members included; David Esuku from KCCA, John Kiwanuka (Internal Security Organisation), ASP Grace Nyangoma (Police), and Florence Anguzu. Others are Daniel Amanyire,Mary Ntete Gunteese  and Frances Atima- all officials from the ministry of education.

According to the Observer Newspaper, a final investigation report compiled by the team, has implicated some teachers and Old Kampala Students Association (OKOSA) Leaders of working against each other in the affairs of the school.

The report says one teacher, Ivan Mbowa, who is also a warden at the boy’s hostel, mobilized students as early as 3am to demonstrate against the Minsitry of Education’s decision to transfer the school headteacher Azida Ntegana Nsubuga.

“Students from this hostel located outside the school moved towards the school in the wee hours carrying placards reading No Azida, No Rice, among others,” the report says.

The final report suggested that student leaders also accused some teachers of working in cohorts with some executive members of the Old Kampala Students Association (OKOSA) to undermine the outgoing head teacher.

A classroom block at Old Kampala SS

The students further said deputy head teachers Godfrey Ssekandi and Juliet Nesakya played a key role in aggravating the strike.

“Students say their peaceful demonstration degenerated into a strike after Ssekandi and Nesakya started beating them indiscriminately,” the report reads in part.

However, a source at the school who spoke on condition of anonymity denied such allegations from the students.

“This report is largely wrong. These deputies have been fabricated. It’s sacrificing Mbowa whose role is clear but setting free the head teacher who ordered Mbowa to do what he did,” the source says.

The report also accuses Nesakya of casually stating that she did not care if the injured (striking) students died”.

The committee found out that the transfer of Ntegana was well received by the majority of the teachers although most students and support staff were unhappy with the ministry’s decision and timing of the transfer.

“Student leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the transfer being done in the middle of the term and they felt they had the right to know why she (Ntegana) was transferred,” the report further reads.

OKOSA, NTEGANA WOES

According to the report, Old Kampala has had leadership challenges since the transfer of the former headteacher and old student Emmanuel Mukasa who has resisted a move to Entebbe Comprehensive SS in 2015.

“The entry of Ms Ntegana was not welcomed by a section of old students and teachers right from the beginning,” noted the report.

“Later, disagreements emerged between old students and the board of governors which widened the gap between OKOSA and the head teacher.”

Efforts by the ministry and KCCA to address the disagreements on accountability, governance and proposed capital development projects at the school did not yield much, the Observer further notes.

OKOSA has an office in the school and is managed by a coordinator, who is not an employee of the school.The committee concluded that the office be closed immediately.

During the committee’s interaction with Ntegana, she alleged that OKOSA members; notably, Leonard Egesa and Patrick Musinguzi destabilized her top management.

“Although some teachers interviewed were in support of OKOSA office, students claimed they don’t receive any support from it (office) and instead, it is their money (10,000 imposed on every candidate) which supports the association,” says the report.

“The office lacks accountability and transparency for the student’s money”.

Some student leaders and a section of of teachers accused some OKOSA members of using  social media to incite violence and blackmail teachers, students and old students who do not support them.

This also caused unrest among students, leading to the strike.

With time, Ntegana filed for a transfer but she was surprised when it came in the middle of the term. The committee didn’t hear from the OKOSA executive because they declined to appear before it on the scheduled date of July 19.

“They indicated that they can only meet the committee after receiving a formal invitation (today) Monday, July 24,” the report noted.

The probe committee in its conclusion of findings hence recommended that Mbowa’s role in the strike should further be investigated and an appropriate action be taken against him.

The committee also said the two deputies- Ssekandi and Nesakya –should be transferred before the school reopens on Wednesday.

“Students should be invited back at school in a phased manner starting with the candidate classes on the first day, S3 and S5 on the second day and finally S1 and S2 on the third day,” the Observer reports in its concluding article.

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The city authority contracted a foreign company TUCKSEE to provide the e-city system for 2.7m dollars.The system is employed to electronically account and manage city revenues.

The Committee on Commissions Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has however criticised the fact that KCCA failed to collect withholding tax from the vendor of the system.

The auditor general in his report ending 2014 noted that KCCA was according to the contract compelled to pay withholding tax of 6% amounting to 130,000 dollars on behalf of the contractor contrary to the law.

MP Anita Among

When KCCA tried to amend the contract the contractor lodged a complaint in the court of arbitration and on the 8th of June this year was awarded 211,000 dollars’ worth of withholding tax certificates and late payment costs of 23,000 dollars.

MPs on the committee reprimanded city officials led by the KCCA Executive Director, Jennifer Musisi, for negligently flouting local tax laws leading to loss of funds.

The Deputy Director, Sam Serunkuma, attributed the computation on a special bilateral agreement signed between Uganda and South Africa and the World Bank guidelines on procurement.

However the MPs led by the Deputy Chairperson, Anita Among, refused to acknowledge this response noting that national laws take precedence over trade rules and guidelines.

Musisi tried to argue that there was no loss of funds but was shot down by  Among and Kasilo County MP, Elijah Okupa, who insisted that any breach of the law leads to loss of money.

Among has called for a cost benefit analysis of the entire project.

Jennifer Musisi the Executive Director, KCCA

Musisi justified the expenditure of 2.7m dollars on the acquisition of the systems source code that enabled the authority to upgrade the system at will.

The MPs have asked for a list of all Court cases that KCCA is embroiled in, additionally the MP for Lubaga North Moses Kasibante led a call for KCCA to submit the professional CVs of the heads of its procurement, finance and legal so that the committee can analyze their competencies.

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Traders and buyers in Kaja market

I managed to talk to a few people who vendor in kaja who expressed their hardships and what they have to go through. “It was 7pm  in the evening, the pick-up for Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) pulled up near kaja. We started gathering our things trying to escape, but my things were many. So they caught me, put me on the pick up along with some of the shoes I was selling. They don’t give you time to gather all you things, they pull you like a thief and put you in the back of their pickup,” John Matovu , one of the vendors in kaja. He adds that, the day KCCA caught him, he lost at least 10pairs of shoes. A terrible experience he reminisces.

Kaja is a small space so most vendors end up having to put their merchandise in the road and battle for space with taxis and other vehicles. While it might not be your usual shopping mall, kaja attracts many vendors and buyers alike. When asked, a buyer who declined to mention their name said, kaja is the best in terms of savings. “Here things are cheap and there is a variety, instead of having to go to Grand Corner (a shopping mall in Kampala) looking for clothes and shoes, I just come to kaja and am sorted,” he says with a visibly beaming smile.

Woman trying on shoes in ‘kaja’ downtown Kampala

Kaja is indeed a cheap place to shop. I have managed to shop a few things there myself. But it is not all rainbows and sunshine. Due to pedestrian traffic and tight space, people are always pushing shoving one another.Beside in an attempt to get customers, the vendors will pull your hand until it feels like it might just fall off.

However, this not the only mishap. Like John said, there is a problem of KCCA. One the particular night when i decided to also buy myself a pair of good second hand clothes, KCCA officials drove up on a pick up and vendors started running, some buyers got knocked down in the process. KCCA officials ran after some vendors who had their merchandise in the road, cuffed them by their shirt necks and threw them on the pick-up truck, picked up some of their merchandise and threw it on a waiting pick-up truck. They then drove off with at least five vendors whose faces were drowning in worry. To me this was a terrible sight.

According to Nixon Segawa, he says such treatment to vendors by KCCA officials has been triggered by Betty Kamya, the Minister for Kampala whom he says ordered that, ‘an illegal street vending activity will not be allowed and that the government therefore has directed all street vendors to vacate streets.’ Last year police and KCCA councilors started the practice of man handling illegal street vendors.

KCCA officials vacating vendor

But while KCCA chasing them off the streets is the biggest problem, it is not the only problem for vendors. Semanga, a vendor in ‘kaja’ also says it is difficult  sometimes when the sun is too hot and also during rainy seasons. He notes that sometimes customers only come to window shop but don’t actually buy anything.

Like most of us, these vendors have families, some of which they support. This means they depend on the sales they make in kaja to be able to sustain their families.

When asked why he chose to sell his merchandise in kaja, Abdul Musoke, a vendor said, “I don’t have money to start a shop, I know my pocket and I cannot afford a shop,”he argues. He says kaja is the only place where he can manage to make some few pennies.

He however, says KCCA officials need to be lenient and considerate with them. “We would like them to give us good time when we can sell our merchandise on the street. We also need to make money, while we would like to operate in the law, these times are hard, we need to make money, and if they take the money then we are left with going back to the village where life is not good,” Abdul explains.

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Uganda lake victoria fishery fishermen fishing boat water hyacinth flora aquatic plants floating invasive species environment.

Visiting Lake Victoria, one of the visible features at first sight is the green water hyacinth as some of it forms shapes that can be viewed from a distance stretching towards the islands on the waters.

Water-hyacinth is a floating plant that has clusters of leaves with spongy stalks arising from a base of dark purple feathery roots. The leaf clusters are often linked by smooth horizontal stems- stolon.

Talking to Simon Magezi, one of the elders at Gabba lading site, it is not clear where and when the feature existed on Lake Victoria(Nalubaale).

It is only speculated that the plant is native to South America so it appears to have reached Lake Victoria due to human activity.

“I have lived at this landing site since 194 and this water hyacinth ‘Ekyiddo’ is not something found while growing up. It only came into existence around the time Museveni’s regime came to power and no one should deceive you that he or she knows how it came here but we believe that it must be as a result of nature,” say Magezi.

Water hyacinth at the shores of lake victoria in Ggaba

However, some researchers have it that with its beauty, it might have been brought over as an ornamental for garden ponds. The consensus is that water hyacinth entered Lake Victoria from Rwanda via the river Kagera, probably in the 1980s. The hyacinth has since spread prolifically, as a result of  lack of natural predators, an abundance of space, agreeable temperature conditions, and abundant nutrients, including increasing heavy metal pollution in the lake.

According to Ibrahim Kizito, one of the members of the fishing committee at the site, the beautiful species move all over the lake in favor of the wind movements.

“When the wind blows this side, then the water hyacinth moves and just settles in the end sides of the lake for at least weeks or months until the wind changes direction,” submitted Kizito.

However, he added that in most of the times when it fails to move then the locals together with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) take up the initiative to remove it and lean the waters.

There are indications that water hyacinths can provide benefits to the Lake Victoria Region in a way that it attempts to purify eutrophicated water. Once established, the plants can also be harvested and used for biogas production, fertilizer, crafts among other things.

However, it affects the Lake Victorian population in many negative ways that among others are;

Sometimes there are economic impacts when the weed blocks boat movements and access. The effects on transportation and fishing are immediately felt. Where the weed is prolific, there is a general increase in several diseases, as the weed creates excellent breeding areas for mosquitoes and other insects.

It can smother aquatic life by de-oxygenating the water, and it reduces nutrients for young fish in sheltered bays. It has blocked supply intakes for the hydroelectric plant, interrupting electrical power for entire cities. The weed also interrupts local subsistence fishing, blocking access to the beaches.

Water hyacinth in Ggaba

Water hyacinths increased rapidly between 1992–1998, were greatly reduced by 2001, and have since resurged to a lesser degree. Management techniques include (hyacinth-eating) insect controls and manual beach cleanup efforts. A water hyacinth infestation is seldom totally eradicated. Instead, it is a situation that must be continually managed.

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Vendors selling items along Luwum street in Kampala during the Sunday market day

Every Sunday Kampala Streets stretching from Barclays Bank to Kampala road on Luwuum Street is shut off and designated as a street market where vendors can hawk and sell their items. Items sold range from clothes for all ages, sexes, class_ both new and second hand clothes, shoes, bags, electronics, art, books and many other items except for food stuffs.

The market was introduced in 2015 by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to offer traders especially street vendor’s opportunity to earn money. In the recent past KCCA and street hawkers have had a series of clashes and also because of complaints from shop owners along the streets on which most of these vendors used to operate, the city authority was moved to come up with a solution for these hawkers hence the introduction of the Sunday street market. Anyone with anything to trade except for food stuffs is allowed space to carry out their business but this after paying a fee of 12,000 Uganda shillings. The fee is for service of hiring security for the market, secure bathrooms and cleaners.

Activities during the market day

Items search as beads are also plenty during the Sunday market day.

Usually, by 10:30am the market is always in full drive, with a beehive of activity as vendors compete with each other in wooing customers as they shout on top of the voices. It’s a deafening experience with one’s ears filed with the surrounding noise from all corners of the gazette streets.  “Sister tops za nkumi ssatu zoka! Aguze tops wano, beyi nkumi ssatu!”, literally meaning, (Sister here are tops going for 3,000 shillings per piece ) a vendor specializing in female blouses shouts on top of his voice in the early morning market as he tries to attract customers to his load.

Here traders devise different methods of wooing customers. Whereas others shout on top of their voices to attract buyers, there are those who come up with much more interesting ways like; corny songs about their products, others use persuasive names like; ‘sister’ or ‘baby’ for the ladies or ‘honorable’ for the men to draw their quick attention. In some instances, the traders have also introduced a method of hiring some people who rub together empty mineral water bottles that produce a noise that eventually draws the attention of customers.

Benefits of the Sunday Street market to traders

One of the vendors I talked to, one Kassim Mugerwa, who deals in second hand shoes says he is grateful for the Sunday street market because this market has seen him achieve certain things he did not think he would ever be able to achieve. Before then, Kassim says he used to hawk his shoes on the streets of Kampala at night and he would face a challenge of KCCA raids and confiscation of his merchandise.

However, with the introduction of the street market, he found a place where he could sell his items without any inconveniences. Kassim says although he is now able to afford a permanent place in Kajja market thanks to participating in the street market for 2 years now, he still makes it a point to come and showcase his goods in this market because he  attributes some of his success to it. “Natandikila wanno nela nkyali wanno,” he says, which translates to “I started from here and I’m still here.” He says he can now more than before provide for his family of 8 people, including his 2 wives and 6 children.

What Customers say.

Different types of books on display at the street market

“The Sunday street market came as a blessing to me, I can now spend less for the same things I used to waste so much money on in boutiques,” one customer I found shopping for checkered blouses said. Many people have embraced the Sunday street market because of the low prices it offers. A denim shirt you’ll buy in a boutique at shillings 25000, you’ll get in the market at just shillings 5000 and also the market offers a variety of things in the same place, books, clothes, home furnishings like curtains and carpets, electronics and home appliances, bags, shoes, you name it. So, is the Sunday street market a blessing or what? In my opinion, it is, to both the vendors and the buyers, as it goes a good way in making people’s lives better.

Challenges of the street market.

The challenges of the Sunday street market is that Sunday is the most people rest from work so many people don’t venture out of their homes to go to markets. The vendors feel that if they had at least one other street market day, it would go a long way in helping them. They also feel that the fee of shillings 12,000 should at least be reduced to at least shillings 10,000. The other challenge is faced by vendors in the market that of shop owners whom they say still harass them. On this day, they don’t get any business because of the market; those who open their shops won’t get customers while some have resorted to not opening at all on Sundays.c

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Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago.

The meeting is said to have been attended by the Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, Minister for Kampala Beti Kamya ,Division Mayors who included; Charles Musoke Serunjogi,Ali Kasirye  Nganda, Ronald Balimwezo ,Joyce Sebugwawo and Emmanuel Serunjogi .

Also in attendance were Members of Parliament from Kampala for Kawempe North Latif Sebaggala, for Lubaga South Kato Lubwama ,Makindye East’s Ibrahim Kasozi and Lubaga North’s Moses Kasibante .

Speaking to journalists soon after the meeting, the Chairperson of the City Parliamentary Caucus, Latif Sebaggala, said that each person in the meeting was given chance to speak on how they can move together to give Kampala people the service they deserve.

He revealed that the Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago and the Minister for Kampala, Beti Kamya, agreed to work together despite the recent misunderstanding.

Lukwago and Kamya recently clashed in Parliament where they had been called to give account of KCCAs activities to the legislators among other issues.

However, the two failed to agree on the point of procedure prompting Parliament to throw them out until ‘they sort out their differences’ before they can reappear before the house.

Sebaggala said they plan to have a follow up meeting within 2 weeks’ time to track their progress on working together.

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