By Sarah Achen Kibisi and Lucy Ekadu
The Workers MP, Hon. Margaret
Namubiru Rwabushaija has
said appealed to government
to popularise the Markets Act 2023
without delay.
She said speeding up awareness will
help the public know and appreciate
the need to have the bill in place.
“I completed my work in the
Markets bill, what is now left is
government through the Local
Government Minister and KCCA to
take the bill to the people to create
awareness about it,” she added.
On 20th July, 20 23, The Markets Bill
was officially launched on 20th July
2023 by UN Women in partnership
with Minister of Local Government.
During the launch, a 20 member
committee was elected to support
the Minister of Local Government to
come up with a statutory instrument.
Rwabushaija said that the markets
were being managed was unfair
because you would find individuals
with more than one stall, others
owning up to 50-100 stalls while
others owned one.
This is was synonymous in markets such as
Bugolobi and Nakawa. Government
should also consider people who
previously invested money in the
By Sarah Achen Kibisi and Lucy Ekadu
expansion of the markets so that they
don’t feel left out.
“My appeal to government is to
follow up on the previous owners
of stalls so that they don’t feel left
out. It’s my prayer that government
will look into this issue so that these
people are also catered for,” said
Rwabushaija.
Plight of breastfeeding mothers
The Workers MP feels happy that
even breastfeeding mothers in the
market are being supported. 90
percent of the vendors are women.
Most of them have breastfeeding
babies and have nowhere to lay
them. With the help of women’s
organization in partnership with
UN Women, these mothers will have
rooms or spaces for their babies with
attendants.
“This move will go a long way
in helping the mothers work well.
It’s critical to have space within the
market so that mothers can breastfeed
their babies,” she added.
She commended the media for
popularizing the bill in all media
platforms. She reported that people
were ringing her complaining that as
a result of the bill, they are suffering.
Conflicts in markets/fires
Rwabushaija said government
gives people startups, when markets
are burnt people loss lots of money
and merchandise. Another conflict
is when some people have not been
paid their money; some accidents are
normal but others are deliberate so if
there is order in the market, people
will burn the market. This bill will
ensure order in the markets people
will fear to burn the market because
they will be arrested. We need peace
and tranquility.
In the past, there were conflicts in
the market, this usually also led to
fires some being accidents and others
deliberate. Some of the fires were
started by people who felt aggrieved
that they were not happy to embrace
change of management.
The idea behind the act
The idea behind the bill was to
restore sanity in the markets. There
are issues in the markets; like fires and
conflicts because some markets were
built by certain people while others
inherited them from their parents.
Since 1942, Uganda didn’t have any
law to regulate the running of the
market. This achievement was a result
of the gift of friends, the women and
men from the markets, the workers
and other well-wishers. Above all,
she is grateful to God for the support
because she not have succeeded alone.
The gift of friends, workers, the
women and men in the markets who
tirelessly provided solutions, she
would not have concluded it. Above
all, she wants to the Almighty God for
His support.
About the children’s Act
According to her, many leaders are
ignorant of this act and their roles as
leaders in enforcing the act to better
the lives of the children. This is the
reason why many children end up on
the streets instead of going to schools.
Recently she became the chairperson
of parliamentary forum of quality
education, they work is to ensure that
children’s act is respected and support
government in areas of education.in
luuka district, children have dropped
out of school and instead cutting
sugar cane to support their families.
“We decided to go to school, some
were going to school after lunch,
others sent out because have not
contributed to t school, and parents
district officials. We asked if they
have ever read t kids act, few put up
their hand, because of poverty chase
t kids away from home,” she noted■
