Mbarara Central Market: City authorities feud over revenue collections

MBARARA – A dispute has emerged between authorities of Mbarara City Council and Mbarara City South Division over the rightful caretaker of the newly constructed Mbarara Central Market.

The Shs 21 billion market was constructed under the Markets and Agriculture Trade Improvement Project [MATIP], with the funds sourced from the African Development Bank [ADB] meant to alleviate poverty and improve agricultural trade.

The dispute between the two sides is about who should collect rental fees, trading licences, and parking fees among others.

Mbarara City comprises two divisions-Mbarara City South and Mbarara City North, with each division having business activities ongoing.

Godfrey Tumusiime, speaker Mbarara City South Division alleges that some officials from Mbarara City Council and the Ministry of Local Government are benefiting from the market.

“I predict that there are some leaders who have even secured tenders for themselves, such as collecting rental fees or loading fees.  There are also some officials from the ministry who have an interest in this market because some individuals are collecting money from the vendors without our knowledge,” Tumusiime claimed.

Jomo Mugabe, mayor Mbarara City South Division says the market is within their jurisdiction and therefore should be managed by the division, not the city council.

“Mbarara City South Division is supposed to take charge of this market because we are the ones who set the rental fees and it is we who are supposed to collect the taxes from the vendors. I wonder how the city leadership enters into issues of the market which is within our jurisdiction,” Mugabe said.

Lillian Rukundo, the councillor representing Kakoba West also says collecting various fees from the new market, the city council has hijacked the mandate of Mbarara City South Division.

“As councillors from Mbarara City South Division. We do not know what takes place in the market because when we try to intervene we are chased away by the vendors. Like recently our revenue team went there to collect licence fees but they were chased away,” she said.

Fadison Mugisha, another area politician says the confusion between the city and the division on revenue collection will affect the revenue performance and service delivery in the area.

“We had considered the market as a source of revenue and those resources were going to benefit our community in terms of services. So if at all we are denied to collect revenue from the market, then we shall not be in position to serve our people,” Mugisha said.

Yusuf Kakembo, another city councillor for Mbarara South Division confirmed that there is a mismatch between the city council and the division on who should take ownership of the market.

Amos Katureebe, division councillor representing disabled accused the Ministry of Local Government of failing to streamline the management of the market.

On his part, Richard Mugisha, deputy city town clerk said they have never collected any fees from market vendors. “As a city centre, we have never collected rental fees from the vendors. That is the work of the technocrats at the division,” Mugisha said.

He said the role of city council, which is a higher local government, is to help in the regulation, guidance, standardisation, control, monitoring and harmonisation of programmes so that the city is run as one.

Mugisha added that all the money collected from the local government is sent to the centre for equitable distribution of the resources to the beneficiary communities.

“In the past, we used to have a system whereby if 100 percent revenue is collected, 50 percent is retained at the division and 50 percent sent to the central government. With the introduction of the single treasury account and the Integrated Revenue Administration System [IRAS], everything is collected and disbursed to the general collections account in Bank of Uganda. When the money comes back to the city council account, it’s when we give the statutory remittances to the divisions as they also give remittances to the wards and villages”.

In a telephone interview with the Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi, he said the relationship between the Division and the City in terms of revenue management and the sharing arrangement between the two bodies is well stipulated in the Local Government Market Guidelines. He instead advised those aggrieved to file a formal complaint to the relevant authorities.

https://thecooperator.news/mbarara-central-market-rental-fees-cut-to-appease-vendors/

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