By George Bukenya
Government refutes earlier statement made by the State Minister for Finance David Bahati indicating that it had halted the exercise of enforcing trade orders in the various parts of the country.
Speaking to reporters at Uganda Media Center in Kampala on Tuesday, in a joint press briefing, the Minister for Kampala Minsa Kabanda asserted that KCCA will continue with enforcing trade order in the capital city because within this short period there are tangible achievements realized.
“ Trade Order is not negotiable; we must have standards to follow as well as discipline. Kampala City is the face of Uganda therefore we ought to enforce order to make it ideal for all the inhabitants and visitors as well,’’ Minister Kabanda stated.
She advised the affected vendors to go to designed legal places like markets, shops to do business in a formal way and that they should stop fighting with law enforcers like those who had come back on streets after Hon. Bahati’s misleading in Parliament which eventually circulated in social media.
The Minister also directed the executive wing of KCCA to ensure that the law enforcers remain firm, consistent and handle the exercise in a professional manner giving respect to human dignity.
“ I don’t Condon the poor manner in which vendors are treated during the arrest because these are human beings who deserve to be handled with dignity. However enforcement in Kampala should continue without interruption’’ she asserted.
The Minister of Local Government Raphael Magyezi who also spoke to the media in the same conference said that people shouldn’t take the Parish Development Model (PDM) money they got as an escape goat in a way of compromising with the trade order in the country.
“ Government didn’t give you PDM money for you to start compromising with the law. You must follow the law when doing business. Traders are obliged to follow for instance NEMA regulations, trader order irrespective of where they derived their capital,’’ Bahati explained.
The Acting Head of Public and Corporate Affairs Daniel Muhumuza Niwabine outlined the achievement registered so far since the exercise of enforcing trade order in the city begun in February. He said that obstruction of traffic had reduced especially at Kalwerere , Aerine road, and other roads linking to the city centre.
There has been also increased uptake of spaces in KCCA markets by 1,666 places which were initially vacant have now been taken and occupied by vendors. Beautification of non-motorized roads has also improved.
Besides the above achievements, revenue collections according to Niwabine have also improved from UGX 3.9billion as of December 2025 to UGX 5.070 billion from February 2026 to date.
Niwabine attributed the huge increase in KCCA revenue collection to an increment in the number of people paying for trade license from 15,628 by December 2025 to 22,909 people currently.
He also called people who want spaces in markets to contact KCCA because there are still 167 vacant places, were 107 are in Busenga market alone. This follows KCCA ‘s reposing of lock-up and stalls after initial owners failed to utilize them for a required period of ninety (90) days.