Kabale market committee members arrested for misconduct, extortion

Three individuals from the Kabale New Central Market Allocation Committee have been arrested on allegations of misconduct and gross extortion during the allocation process. The suspects include Wilson Agaba, the Kabale Municipality health inspector, Alex Muhumuza, the Chairman of the Relocations team, and a member of the registration team.

The arrests were ordered by Raphael Magyezi, the Local Government Minister, who was in Kabale to address the findings of an investigative committee led by Ronald Bakak, the Kabale Deputy Resident District Commissioner, and officials from the Ministry of Local Government.

The establishment of the committee in January 2023 followed complaints from several vendors regarding the alleged mishandling of the relocation exercise by municipal authorities, including Mayor Emmanuel Sentaro Byamigisha and Prossy Tuhiriirwe, the Assistant Program Officer in Charge of Community Development in the Ministry of Local Government.

Vendors accused the municipal leaders of accepting bribes ranging from 2 to 50 million Shillings in exchange for selling stalls and lockups to unidentified individuals, civil servants, and their relatives. In response to the numerous complaints, Magyezi conducted interviews with vendors at the market after a meeting held at White Horse Inn involving municipal authorities and district security officials to discuss the report.

The overwhelming number of grievances expressed by vendors during a subsequent meeting at Golf Course Makanga on Sunday led Magyezi to order the arrests of Byamugisha, Muhumuza, Agaba, and Fidelis Akankwasa, the Kabale Municipality Commercial Officer, who is currently evading arrest. Byamugisha and other Ministry of Local Government officials overseeing the allocation exercise will also undergo investigation.

The suspects have been taken into custody at Kabale Central Police Station.

The Kabale market was renovated by Chong Chong International Construction (CICO), a Chinese company, in 2019 as part of the World Bank-funded Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Program (MATIP III), with a budget of 23 billion shillings. The completed market was handed over to the government in December 2022.