JINJA: In a bid to restore trade order, Jinja city authorities have embarked on operations to evict street vendors and illegal taxi stages.
The authorities stress that potential customers prefer purchasing cheap items along the streets rather than accessing gazetted markets, which is frustrating effective revenue collection.
They also say that illegal commuter taxi stages have since contributed to traffic congestion within Jinja City’s central business district, which is frustrating the smooth operability of other enterprises.
Marion Nakachwa, a vegetable vendor in Jinja central market, says that she pays a monthly tax of 13,000 schillings. However, the continued influx of street vendors is frustrating her efforts to make good sales.
“Vendors in the vegetables and fruits department pay a monthly tax of 13,000 schillings. However, the presence of street vendors has drastically affected our daily sales,” she says.
The Jinja central market’s chairperson, Henry Mujimba, says that some elements within the Jinja city leadership setup are extorting money from street vendors before allowing them to trade along the roadsides.
“The challenge of street vendors even around the central market itself has existed for about six years now, largely due to some politicians, who connive with some technocrats to extort money from these vendors and use them to transact business along the streets,” he says.
Meanwhile, George Olwenyi, a driver from Jinja taxi park, says that following the presidential directive to halt daily remittances to local governments in July 2017, responsible authorities lost track of enforcing the parking order since they were no longer earning direct revenues from the taxi park.
Olwenyi adds that several individuals opted out of the park and created illegal stages where they could easily get passengers unhindered. However, enforcement should step up efforts to restore order since taxi parks have been rendered nonfunctional.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Khalid Muyingo, the chairperson of the Jinja taxi drivers and operators association, accused some leaders in Jinja city of influencing the construction of kiosks and allocating land to motor vehicle garages within the taxi park premises, which has since reduced the parking space and forced away drivers.
Muyingo further implored Jinja city authorities to equip the taxi park with security and other amenities like standard sanitary facilities, before forcing all drivers to embrace the gazetted park.
On his part, Rajab Kiito, the Jinja city’s spokesperson, denies influence peddling, arguing that the operations are aimed at enforcing trade order in all areas of the city without exercising favoritism.