The woes of businesswomen and men whom as of a few hours ago occupied the now demolished Nakivubo Park Yard market are just a tip of the ice berg.
In the aftermath of waking to the destruction of their businesses, the over 15,000 traders are pondering their next move. Some have threatened to join Kifeesi– a group of iron bar hit men and thieves that has made it their business to keep people awake and terrified.
“We have nowhere to go. Our merchandise has been destroyed beyond recognition. We shall not let our kids starve to death. We have no choice but to join kifeesi,” said Lutaaya Frank, a vendor.
The demolition crew came in late at around 2am in the night and started tearing the place to shreds. By business hours in the morning, the whole market had been sealed off by heavy deployment of police.
This comes after Minister for Kampala Betty Kamya cut short the 30-day ultimatum she had given the vendors to vacate the market. According to Ms Kamya, the vendors were thrown out earlier than expected due to the place lacking enough toilet facilities.
Load Mayor Erias Lukwago vowed to rally his councillors in a bid to challenge the demolition. “I have called for a council meeting to review that decision and take drastic measures against the minister. This is just a matter of land grabbing, just like the commission of inquiry that has been set up to probe land matters in Uganda, Museveni and his government are all out to grab land.”