Last year, the Minister of Local Government commissioned a Shillings 18.3 billion market in Masaka City; constructed under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Program-MATIP-II, funded using a loan from the African Development Bank-ADB. However, the political leadership in the area has failed to agree on modalities for ensuring that the market is fully occupied, hence the open counteraccusations.
Led by Minister Hajat Minsa Kabanda, the ministry's delegation visited Masaka City Council on Monday to observe the implementation of projects under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Programme (USMID), focusing on markets, street lighting, urban roads, and drainage networks.
Rashida Nakabuga, the Chief Operations Officer at Rainforest Alliance; an international Nongovernment Organization fostering partnerships aimed at promoting human rights and livelihoods of farmers, has called upon the local leaders to strictly enforce policies against all forms of child labour in their communities.
However, Abel Ssembajjwe, the Masaka City Assistant Engineer, explains that due to challenges in maintaining the lights due to high power bills, the City Council decided in 2019 to uninstall all the LED lights until a more sustainable solution was found.
The innovation was revealed by the URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi Rujoki, at the commissioning of their South-Western Regional Offices for Customs and Domestic Taxes, which was built at shillings 9.78 billion in Masaka City.
