The Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) has called off planned traders’ demonstrations that were allegedly set to happen on Monday, April 8, 2024.
According to Thadeus Musoke Naggenda, the Chairperson of KACITA, all traders operating in Kampala are allowed to open up their businesses and attend to their customers.
He asked traders not to be intimidated by those who are masquerading as leaders of the association and mobilizing traders to stage a strike.
He added that the association has informed the police to provide tight security to traders who wish to open up their shops to serve their customers, so as to protect them against any possible danger.
“As KACITA, we have received several petitions from our members and the public inquiring about the demonstrations allegedly to happen on Monday, April 8, 2024. We have also received complaints from members who don’t believe in the principle of demonstration that they are receiving threats from some groups of traders who are said to be planners of the demonstration. I want to assure the traders and Uganda at large that, as KACITA, we value dialogue and utilize all avenues to make sure that we advocate for a fair trade policy and a conducive trade environment,” Naggenda said.
Naggenda made these remarks during a press conference held at the Central Park Hotel in Bukoto, Kampala, on Sunday, April 7, 2024.
He said that the association also engaged those who were trying to plan the demonstration and agreed to halt the demonstration in honor of the dialogue approach and the expected Eid al Fitr for Muslims, which is expected to be celebrated in the coming week.
“Such days are special to the Muslim fraternity, and they need to be served on a prolific and peaceful day because there are commodities that are consumed and sold on such special days,” Naggenda said.
The chairperson appealed to a section of members who are masterminding the demonstrations to warn some of their members against intimidating traders who have abstained from the demonstration.
“We appeal to them to talk to their members to stop intimidating our people who want to work on Monday because, as KACITA, we have consulted other leaders in the business fraternity and we have decided to give room to negotiations,” he noted.
Traders operating in Kampala have over time threatened to demonstrate the dominance of Chinese investors in the business, which has purportedly left the nationals without customers.
Naggenda, however, appealed to the government to handle the issue of traders with urgency, explaining that the issue that is affecting traders is small and solvable.
