Natete Market vendors on Wednesday turned in a big number at City Hall to listen to the council’s decision on the wrangles affecting their place of business.
Currently a private firm RR Transporters Ltd is claiming to have bought the land on which the market is situated.
The firm wants the vendors to vacate, but they adamantly refused, prompting it to drag them to court.
At City Hall yesterday, the situation was tense, with police and other security agents, conducting thorough checks on whoever wanted to enter the premises.
The large crowd of vendors was accommodated in the Lord Mayor’s garden.
Discussing the matter, the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago told the vendors to pay taxes to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
After council meeting, Lukwago, Rubaga division mayor Joyce Sebugwawo and some councillors, they addressed the vendors at the Lord Mayor’s Garden.
Lukwago assured the traders that they were handling the matter.
In late August, the vendors staged a demonstration in Natete, protesting the giveaway of the land. The protest affected the traffic flow for nine hours.
Last week, the court was expected to start hearing the case RR Transporters Ltd filed but it was postponed because the judicial officers were on the strike.
Kampala minister Beti Kamya has also set up a parallel committee to probe the wrangles surrounding the sale of Natete Market.
Natete Market was built during the John Ssebaana Kizito’s tenure as the city mayor, using World Bank funds.
