Ntungamo Municipality bosses ganged up for mismanagement of matooke market money

There is Tension in Ntungamo municipal Council as Residents, Stakeholders and traders are demanding Accountability for the money that is collected from the Matooke Daily Market that is suspected to be chewed by a few individuals within the Council.

According to sources, Ntungamo Municipality Authority collects about 17M revenue per month from the matooke market that operates on a daily basis, however this money has not benefited traders and other groups of people that operate in this market yet they are the ones that pay that revenue.

Traders claim that they pay their money to the Council on expectation to have better working conditions and good sanitation provided by the Municipal Council, but the situation in this market is worse.

The market has remained in a very poor state with traders being forced to endure dirt and mud especially during this wet season. Poor Garbage management within the market has threatened health of the people operating in that place and it  has also affected the working conditions in the market.

According to the report made by a concerned group of people under their Umbrella Make Ntungamo Great (MANG) together with Traders operating in the Matooke Market, they have ganged up against the Leadership of Ntungamo Municipality headed by the Mayor Jacob Kafureka that they have misused a taxpayer money. That Mayor and his Technocrats including the Town Clerk, Chief Finance Officer have connived with the tenders of this market and allegedly swindled the Millions that come from that market. That there is nothing that has been done in that market  to support accountability purposes for the money collected at least for the last 5 years.

Motooke Market is the major source of income for Ntungamo Municipality, therefore, this  market deserves a lot of attention. This market was established about 10 years ago.

It has been also established that the tendering process of this market had a lot of irregularities. That no one knows what the Tenderer/ contractor of this market pays to Municipal Council and on what terms and conditions.

Bosco Rutubuka, a trader in the market said that unidentified people who took the tender of Matooke Market have become arrogant and dictators.

“We have a very poor leadership in our market and also at the municipal council, they collect money from us but we don’t know where this money goes and what it does, we don’t know whether the chairman of the market  is at the same time the tenderer of the market, the operationalization of the market is not very clear” said Ambrose Gumisiriza , one of Traders.

During a press Conference that was held recently in Ntungamo Town, MANG revealed that it has been established that there is a number of messes done by the Leadership of the Municipality as far as revenue management is concerned.  This association has gone ahead and tasked the Leadership of Mayor Kafureka to work upon this market immediately so that the traders can enjoy proper and good conditions in their market which they pay their tax for.

Philibert Natuhwera, one of the key members of MANG urged that the money that is collected from that market should at the same time be used by the Municipal Council  to rehabilitate the same market like tarmacking the ground for easy operation of the market other than diverting this money to some other unknown things that do not benefit the people who work in that Market.

MANG has also threatened to petition the the Speaker of Parliament Anita Anite Among against Ntungamo Municipal Council over Matooke Market Issues if the Leadership does not comply towards the poor state which traders are going through. They also demand for the accountability of the money that has been collected from this market for some years ago when there is nothing that has been reinvested. They want authorities to intervene and investigate some Officials in Ntungamo Municipal Council.

MANG is an independent Umbrella composed of young people, residents of Ntungamo Municipalirty with Pasion in building and maintaining prosperity in Town and through the District. Their objective is to establish challenges within the town and make their  leaders accountable to ensure there is service delivery in the Municipality. AMANG is headed by some leaders like Asuman Muhangi , the Chairperson of this Group, Philibert Natuhwera, the Treasurer, Living Binkamanyiro as the  Secretary and more others.

Jacob Kafureeka , Mayor Ntungamo Municipality said that Municipality is looking for about 320M that is required for tarmacking the whole matooke market. That it is still a challenge that the Municipal Council has Financial Constraints that can not allow them to work on this market very soon.