10 days before their 30-day ultimatum to vacate the business premises elapsed, businesswomen and men of Nakivubo Park Yard woke up today to the sound of bulldozers and hammers.
Minister of Kampala, Betty Kamya on February 7, gave traders of the Park Yard market a directive to vacate the premises within 30 days.
The minister said that the land on which the market sits belongs to the Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium, as a parking lot and the vendors must vacate as FIFA cannot sanction international games to be played in Nakivubo in its current state.
20 days later, as the traders were still coming to terms with the ultimatum, they woke up in the middle of the night (last night) to the news of their stalls being demolished.
“I don’t know what is happening, by the time I reached the place I could only watch and weep for everything I’ve sweated for the last four years,” cried Paul Mugisa, a vendor.
Kamya last week directed the vendors to vacate the market, also citing a health threat coming from lack of enough toilet facilities among other reasons.
However, Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago condemns the on-going demolition and sealing off of the market. “Just like the commission of inquiry set up to probe land matters in Uganda, Museveni and his government are all out to grab land,” he said.