Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) leaders warn KCCA leaders, if they don’t work on pertinent issues affecting their members, they will not hastate to mobilize their member to resent paying for trade licenses and property rates.
The decry over the overwhelming potholes in the city that make them lose a lot of revenue caused by time wasted in traffic jams due to potholes that are on every road that connects other areas to the main trading Centre.
While addressing journalists at KACITA’s head office in Kampala, Musoke Kitandwe the acting chairman said that a larger portion of government revenue from taxes and nontax sources is collected from traders who trade their business in the city but when it comes to allocation for service delivery they are the worst recipient.
Kitandwe said that the fly over construction that is ongoing will cause more traffic jam instead of reducing on it because of its design. He said that the construction has and is still interrupting the traffic flow which is consequently affecting the business community.
“ The design of the Flyover doesn’t in anyway give a sign of relief to the current traffic mobility contrary to the intended objective for which it was designed.’’ Kitandwe said.
‘’ We demand government to constitute a commission of inquiry inclusive of the business community representatives and independent Engineers to further study and reviews construction works as to whether it corresponds to the appalling challenges of traffic congestion before completion date of this first phase.’’
The association’s spokesperson Isa Sekiito said that KCCA has a tendency of locking up building for the landlords’ failure to pay property rates something that negatively affects the business people.
“ What KCCA is doing is wrong because our members pay for their licenses on time but when it is demanding property rates it closes the whole building we shall not tolerate this because our members lose a lot of revenue in this fracases.’’ Sekito said.
“ KCCA can explore other avenues to compel the real estate developers to pay property rates, for instance it can go to court and secure an order compelling then to pay, it can also free bank accounts of the owners of building instead of making tenants suffer.’’
We shall also take action on this if KCCA doesn’t change its methods of coercing landlords to pay their property rates.
Meanwhile tenants on Namaganda plaza found their work premises closed as they had come to do business as usual. The building was sealed off by KCCA for non-compliant by the owner Matovu Manisul commonly known as Yanga as regards to property rate payment.
One of the tenant names withheld for fear of being harassed told this website that this was the third time this year when KCCA closes their work premises at Namaganda Plaza and seals it off.
Efforts to reach Yanga for a comment on why he doesn’t pay property rate which make tennats suffer instead was futile.
By George Bukenya
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