Stop ignoring us; kiosk owners tell off Minster Magyezi

Mbarara

The Mbarara Central Market Kiosk owners have shown their grievances and accused the minister of Local government Raphael Magyezi of ignoring their concerns.

Under their Umbrella as Mbarara Central Market Kiosk/ lockups Owners Association, they have come up bitterly and told Magyezi to stop ignoring and neglecting their concerns. Speaking to our reporter, Joy Night Amumpaire the Chairperson of this Association said that they have written to Minister Magyezi about their concerns of central market kiosks ownership but he has never responded to them. Joy Amumpaire claims that she has had numerous appointments with minister Magyezi to meet but he doesn’t turn up. That she has called him, texted him on his personal phone several times but Magyezi keeps ignoring her efforts to reach him.

“We thought as a public servant, you would be very object to listen to all parties but how can we call you, and write to you then you decide to keep silent as if we are useless. You are the one who gave me your number, so now don’t you talk to us. You well know we are the right landlords of this market, they started building this market when they had promised us that we shall be given back our kiosks/lockups as land loads when the market is completed but now Mbarara City Council and you minister Magyezi are not considering us and we can’t allow this happen” Amumpaire to Minister Magyezi. These are about 300 members who are claiming that they were owning lockups and kiosks in Mbarara Central Market.

Last week when Magyezi was in Mbarara, he said that he doesn’t know any other landlord apart from president Museven and Mbarara City Council. That those so called landlords who are claiming for lockups in this market are not the right ones. He only wants vendors to work in this market as tenants.

Ndabatata Ngabirano the secretary for Mbarara Central Market Kiosk Owners Association said that they wrote to Minister Magyezi in November last year and copied to relevant authorities but it’s unfortunate that up to now no one has ever responded to them. ” Minister Magyezi says that he doesn’t know us yet we wrote to him and raised our concerns, what does he want us do so that he can easily understand each of us and sort our issues. We just want Magyezi to meet us face to face so that we can raise our issues verbally” said Ndabatata.

Speaking to Mayor Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi, he trashed the claims from the so called Kiosk owners. And told them that the only land lord of Mbarara Central Market is Mbarara City Council. That if they want to work from this market better come and register as tenants like other vendors and leave things of land lords. He added that as a Mayor, he already owns the land title of this land where the market is constructed.