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Traders celebrate abattoir ‘gift’ by Museveni
Hassan Basajabalaba who claims ownership of the abattoir
Meat dealers in Kampala are in high spirits after President Yoweri Museveni allowed them to develop the Port-Bell road based City abattoirs.
However Kampala Capital City Authority spokesperson Peter Kaujju says the President may have given out air ‘Boya bya nswa’ because the facility is privately owned.
There are claims that the abattoir is owned by businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba (Pictured), but The Sunrise has not been able to verify these claims.
Kaujju doubts claims that Museveni could have made the award: “What I know is that when the president was at Kololo recently, he told those people to comply with KCCA in ensuring peace and a smooth collection of taxes.”
According to Abbey Mugumba, the Chairman of the Abattoirs’ and Meat Traders Union, President Museveni issued the directive recently after the traders presented to him a plan to develop a state-of- the-art facility.
Mugumba says the proposed new facility will go a long way to improve meat handling services to match international standards.
“First of all, we have been aware of the fact that the current facility had long outlived its usefulness since it was constructed back in the sixties and therefore was meant to serve a limited number of city dwellers,” said Mugumba.
“We therefore set out to lay down a mega and modern plan to suit the changing times and demands in tandem with vision 2040 and it is now pending approval from Kampala Capital City Authority,” added Mugumba.
He asked KCCA to resume collecting taxes which had been suspended at the height of the conflict between the traders and Basajjabalaba who claims to have bought a tender to run the facility on behalf of KCCA.
Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) Secretary General Ephraim Ssentamu Kaddu commended President Museveni for his consistence on the policy of empowering the masses vis-à-vis the rich.
“This is a good gesture and it is going to serve as a tool of income distribution instead of promoting the concentration of resources in the hands of one rich individual,” Ssentamu said.
He however called for caution on the part of management, which he advised to rally traders into a cooperative society which he said will be instrumental in encouraging savings and investments among traders.
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