Ronald Kiwuuwa one of the leaders in Nakasero market has revealed to this investigative website that all markets leadership in Kampala city have agreed to mobilize their people to change their voting posts and rallied those who have not yet registered with Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama’s Independent Electoral Commission to make sure that they register as Kampala city voters come 2026.
Kiwuuka narrates that they want to use the coming general elections to elect people from within their circles who will understand their problems and save them from the frequent threats of eviction.
He alleges that the rich people want to build arcades and other buildings on the land on which their markets sit.
He was supported by Kamada Bukenya the spokesperson of St Balikuddembe Market (Owino) who reveals that they have landed on Kampala city and metropolitan senior minister Hajjat Amisa Kabanda’s plan to compromise them and use them to vote for her come 2026 as Kampala Central legislator.
He insists that Minister Kabanda is the one behind John Kabanda the president of the Federation of Uganda Traders Association (FUTA) who wants to compromise them to join his association which they claim registers only traders operating in arcades in Kampala city.
“Minister Kabanda is the patron of FUTA and on several occasions has been taking Kabanda and his friends to pick money from State House. Other arcade traders asked us to be very careful with Kabanda because he is a government spy and he is the one who betrayed fellow traders and reported to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) how they dodge paying government taxes. Now he is coming to us, we shall not allow her and Kabanda’s group in our markets” Bukenya said.
Moses Lwegaba the spokesperson of FUTA denied the allegations placed on his president Kabanda of being a government spy.
He explained that they formed the federation with the help of the officers from the Ministry of Trade to rally all traders in the country to speak with one voice since being together is the only way government can help them to secure financial support.
He defended their move to add rally market vendors to join FUTA explaining that they want them to develop like their colleagues in arcades.
He accussed their rival associations like Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) officers of using traders to enrich themselves through getting money from president Museveni’s government as persons insisting that FUTA wants all traders to get financial support as a group.
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He also accused KACITA of misleading market vendors and compromising them not to join FUTA because they don’t want traders to speak with one voice, that is why they even tried to frustrate their efforts of registering their federation with the government.
Top Secrets has established that KACITA has also fronted their spokesperson Issa Ssekito to stand as Kampala Central legislator.
They claim that he Ssekito will take their issues to parliament.
KACITA insiders disclosed that they reached the decision after Kampala Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago promised to support Ssekito after he abandoned his first political declaration to contest against him as Kampala City Lord Mayor.
Sources also revealed that KACITA is mobilizing market vendors in Kampala central division to support their candidate even though Suzan Kushaba the former leader in Owino market has also picked interest to contest against Ssekito.
However, sources close to Kushaba are very scared insisting that she doesn’t have the required academic papers of A-level and she even admitted before president Museveni in State House when the president met market leadership that she dropped out of school in S.2.
This is after president had promised to get for her another job after dismissing her from market leadership.
National Unity Platform (NUP) is also fronting their Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya to contest for the seat even though he is receiving a lot of resistance from within the party with some members asking their president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) why Rubongoya is standing in Kampala instead of going back to his home region in Ankole.
When contacted, minister Kabanda denied supporting Kabanda’s FUTA to take over city market leadership insisting that Kabanda only invited her as one of the guests at their functions where they are going to elect their new leadership on 18th of February 2025.
