Kampala- Government officials and the police yesterday struggled to convince traders who lost their property in the Nakivubo Parkyard fire, to stay away for days until structures that are not susceptible to fire are erected.
They fruitlessly battled to remove the traders from the market, but when they saw the chaos spreading to other parts of the city, they grudgingly halted the plan.
Kampala Metropolitan Police commander Andrew Felix Kaweesi told traders to “first keep away from the market to allow government plan something that will not be burnt again”.
Traders did not allow him finish his statement as they started jeering and hurling plastic bottles at him, prompting him to make a U-turn. “Okay, go back to your market,” he said.
Traders feared that keeping them away could be part of a government ploy to evict them from the area since the landlord, Nakivubo Stadium, has already constructed a shopping mall directly facing Park yard market.
The blaze, whose cause has not yet been established, broke out at about 3am yesterday morning. It took police more than five hours to put out the fire.
A number of traders fainted upon visiting the scene which was still blazing even after 7am. Police were blocking them, suspecting some traders to be thugs looking for property to loot.
Angry traders turned to pelting stones at the officers, accusing the fire brigade of arriving at the scene late. Police too fired back using tear gas canisters and live bullets.
After running battles, police called in the Military Police to prevent the situation from escalating into a full-blown riot.
Heavily armed Military Police officers managed to quell the riot after blocking all roads connecting to the market.
Some traders claim KCCA was behind the move so that the affected vendors occupy stalls in the recently constructed Usafi Market which has failed to attract vendors
“It is quite clear that we are being witch-hunted by those interested in this space. They have done all tricks to chase us away, but we are going nowhere,” shouted Ms Harriet Nantumbwe, a food vendor at the market.
Some traders whose merchandise have thrice been burnt, said they were pondering quitting Parkyard and relocating to either Kisekka or Kibuye markets.
The irritated traders also took a swipe at the police fire brigade who they accused of arriving at the scene but did little to put out fire.
“They arrived a bit early when only a section of the market was affected, but they dilly-dallied until it covered the entire area,” said Mr Samson Dbumba, another trader.
Police Fire Brigade chief Joseph Mugisa dismissed talk that the market had been torched; noting that extinguishing the fire was difficult due to the poor planning of the facility.
“The traders have failed to learn from their past mistakes, and basing on what we see, the causes of this latest fire are not different from those in the past. We had advised them to create reasonable space within the market for easy accessibility in case of fire, but all that was ignored,” he said.
Nakivubo Parkyard Market was last gutted by fire on July 31, 2011 but there have been four minor fires inside the adjacent St Balikuddembe market in the last four years.
Perspective
What has not changed since the 2009 fire
-Traders still leave their merchandise at their stalls instead of keeping them at nearby stores.
- Food vendors who use charcoal stoves still operate at the market in between businesses.
-Wiring at most stalls was done unprofessionally.
-All stalls are made of wood, ignoring advice from engineers that concrete and metallic materials be used
What has changed
-Market is still inaccessible by fire engines though some paths were widened
- Management wrangles were resolved and new leaders elected
- Armed security personal are deployed to man all main entrances at night