The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, had demanded that the Minister of Kampala, Beti Kamya, presents a list showing vendors evicted from the Park Yard Market and where they have been relocated to.
The Speaker’s directive followed a Statement made by the Minister about the Monday night eviction of vendors from the Park Yard Market, owned by the Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium.
The yard is now being developed into a modern sports complex.
Speaker Kadaga said that the eviction of vendors was an indictment on everyone in government having failed to find solutions for problems affecting the ordinary people.
“This is an indictment on all of us; the poor are being pushed and shoved around without any solution,” she said adding that, “It is only us who can speak for them. We cannot continue treating people like they are not Ugandan.”
Some MPs expressed displeasure at the eviction being done before the expiry of the deadline given to the traders in the eviction notice. They also expressed concern that the entire eviction exercise was undertaken without the involvement of area legislators and the Kampala Lord Mayor.
Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi (DP, Butambala) said that Parliament needed to interest itself in establishing who Hamis Kiggundu, the Nakivubo Park yard developer, was considering that he was buying prime pieces of land in the city, and seemed to be protected by Government.
Hon. Pentagon Kamusiime (NRM, Butemba) said that the Ministry should have worked with both the Mayor and Kampala MPs to handle the issue smoothly to avoid negative publicity to government.
In her Statement, Kampala Minister Hon. Beti Kamya asked MPs to rise above party politics and support the development of Nakivubo Stadium into a modern sports facility.
The Minister said that the eviction brought to an end a 20 year protracted effort to evict vendors from the Park Yard which belongs to the Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium.
“I am proud that we have successfully brought to the end a twenty year old dispute and relocated over 5,000 people in a few days, without a gun shot, tear gas, serious injury or mayhem,” she said, adding that, “It is a resounding success.”
The Minister explained that KCCA worked with the leadership of the Vendors Association to discuss and agree on the eviction, and that negotiations and discussions had been ongoing for a long time.
On Tuesday 28th February, Parliament Speaker, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, demanded that government makes a Statement about the sudden eviction of vendors of the Market, which had left the vendors in disarray.
Minister Kamya said that for as long as she is Minister for KCCA, she would take keen interest in the quality of development of Kampala City
“I am very glad that Park Yard Market, that eyesore in the middle of a capital city, has finally been brought down and that Nakivubo can now be developed into an ultra-modern facility, which Ugandans need and deserve,” said Kamya.
Kamya said that currently, the Park Yard and the new locations where 2,200 have settled, are calm and that there is no serious security or economic threat arising out of the relocation of the market.
