Mbale Central Market Nets Just Shs3m in July as City Blames Vendor Leaders for Taking Over Control

 

Mbale City authorities have blamed the leadership of vendors at Mbale Central Market for the facility’s dismal revenue performance, revealing that the market generated only Shs3 million in July while comparable MATIP markets such as Gulu collected Shs100 million.

In a statement, Senior Public Relations Officer Kutosi James Natsami said Mbale Central Market was among the first and largest markets developed under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP), yet it remains the poorest performer in revenue generation.

Natsami attributed the shortfall largely to vendors assuming administrative roles that belong to the city. “As I write this the keys to gates of the market are in the hands of the vendors not the market administrators appointed by the City,” he stated.

He noted that the city facilitated the market’s vendor leadership for a benchmarking visit to Gulu Market in the hope that the exposure would improve operations in Mbale. That improvement has not materialised.

The statement questioned the management of key revenue streams, including toilet fees and gate collections, asking where the money ends up and who controls it. Natsami argued that a market expected to be self-sustaining cannot function properly when most of the anticipated revenue is mishandled by vendors themselves.

On the contentious revised rates, he defended the proposed increase for lock-ups to Shs200,000, saying it reflects market value. He pointed out that private lock-ups and shops on the opposite side of Cathedral Avenue charge rents of Shs500,000 or more, while the city currently receives only Shs80,000 from its own lock-ups.

While acknowledging that the city may have fallen short in some areas, Natsami insisted the primary cause of the market’s underperformance lies with “some purported vendors’ leaders.”

He added that the Ministry of Local Government has deployed staff to work with city administrators and vendors to resolve outstanding issues, including those that arose when government allocated lock-ups and spaces to active traders.

The city remains open to providing further clarification, Natsami said.