The Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) calls off planned traders’ demonstrations allegedly set to happen on Monday, April 8, 2024.
Thadeus Musoke Naggenda, the Chairperson of KACITA, announces that all traders operating in Kampala are allowed to open up their businesses and attend to their customers.
He urges traders not to be intimidated by those masquerading as leaders of the association and mobilizing traders to stage a strike.
He said that the association also engaged those who were trying to plan the demonstration and agreed to halt the demonstration in honor of the dialogue approach and the expected Eid al Fitr for Muslims, which is expected to be celebrated in the coming week.
Naggenda adds that the association has informed the police to provide tight security to traders who wish to open up their shops to serve their customers, protecting them against any possible danger.
“As KACITA, we have received several petitions from our members and the public inquiring about the demonstrations allegedly to happen on Monday, April 8, 2024. We have also received complaints from members who don’t believe in the principle of demonstration that they are receiving threats from some groups of traders who are said to be planners of the demonstration. I want to assure the traders and Uganda at large that, as KACITA, we value dialogue and utilize all avenues to make sure that we advocate for a fair trade policy and a conducive trade environment,” Naggenda says.
Naggenda, however, appealed to the government to handle the issue of traders with urgency, explaining that the issue that is affecting traders is small and solvable.