Haruna Daud, a fish trader says his business capital has gone down from over Shillings 10 million to Shillings 2milion since the suspension of the operations of Mpondwe market.
Traders at
Mpondwe Market in Lhubiriha Town Council in Kasese District are crying foul
because of the suspension of their activities for over a year. The traders are
protesting the high cost of Covid-19 testing, which has limited them and their Congolese
counterparts from crossing the border.
The town council neighbours the Uganda-DRC border point. In September,
the government reopened Entebbe international airport and all borders after more
than six-month closure as part of the COVID-19 preventive measures. However,
all travellers have to be tested for COVID-19. But these restrictions have
affected the entire cross border business in Kasese District.
Fish traders have since abandoned their businesses due to lack of customers and now want the government to lift the ban on their
operations. They also want the government to give them free Covid-19 testing so
that they can ably cross into DRC.
Haruna Daud, a fish trader says his business capital has gone down from over Shillings
10 million to Shillings 2milion since the suspension of the operations of
Mpondwe market. The trader says his main customers were from DRC but these
suspended their businesses due to the high Covid-19 testing costs. The
testing cost US$ 40 on top of US$ 50 for the visa.
//Cue in: “Muzei kwetumwetagako…
Cue out: ...zamafuta gokulya,”//
Tanazio Kule, another fish dealer says businesses in Mpondwe are heavily dependent
on the Congolese who purchase in bulky. He says the cross border restrictions
have impacted heavily on the number of customers. Kule said he could sell about 50 boxes of
fish to DR Congo each day but he had to suspend the business due to the absence
of customers.
//Cue in: “Embera ezitulimu enaku….
Cue out: …nga tunyigirizibwa nyo.”//
Fatima Abudallah says she is going through hard times since the border market
was closed. The trader says she cannot afford to routinely pay for
Covid-19 testing and has to depend on a few local buyers.
//Cue in: “Since corona came…
Cue out: …if you don’t have money.”//
Walyuba Kule says currently it's only transit traders that can meet the high
costs involved in the fish business. He says largely the Congolese would buy
from local traders to go and resale in their Country.
//Cue in: "Even with 40 dollars...
Cue out: ...from business."//
Sulah Bwambale, a poultry products dealer told URN that he used to sell more
than 2000 birds per week to Congolese traders. He now sells between 30-50
birds on the local market since the ban took effect.
//Cue in: “Kitutawanya kubanga…
Cue out: …nga osasule sente.”//
Fatuma Nyakimwe, a mobile money agent says her business has equally been
shuttered by the lock-down restrictions. She says weekly markets would offer
her between 100-200 clients a day.
Elias Masereka, the Secretary-General Mpondwe traders says
the traders are incurring a lot of costs to take their goods in DRC unlike the
past where the Congolese would directly come into the market.
//Cue in: “Since Covid most…
Cue out: …offloaded here.”//
Lubiriha town council alone has lost close to Shillings 1Bn
in market revenue collections since last year.
The town council chairperson Sylvester Mapozi says
their collections largely depended on market activities.
