Despite local leaders’ attempts to halt the eviction, municipal council authorities in Moroto pushed ahead with demolishing kiosks and containers belonging to street vendors.
Early this month, the municipal council authorities issued a notice to all street vendors informing them of their planned eviction as part of a nationwide operation to restore order in trade.
The deadline elapsed on Friday, and yesterday, the authorities launched their operations, demolishing containers and kiosks along the streets of Moroto town.
This is part of the nationwide crackdown aimed at restoring order in trade.
However, local leaders insist that the allotted time for vendors was insufficient to find alternative locations for their containers and store their goods while they look for better settlement structures.
According to them, vendors have complied and are willing to relocate, provided they are given enough time, making it unnecessary to use force and demolish people’s properties.
Ismail Mohammed, the Mayor of Moroto municipality, stresses that they had agreed in a meeting to implement the exercise in a phased manner, but instead, the authorities have decided to use force and cruelty to evict vendors.
He suggests suspending the operation until the new leadership is sworn in, allowing vendors to prepare and remove their commodities from the streets. Richard Eyaru, the Town Clerk for Moroto municipal council, insists the exercise will continue, and only those who complied with removing their properties will be given more time to complete.
By URN
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