BY MICHAEL THEMBO MUHAYIRWA
There was joy and jubilation yesterday at the Uganda – DRC Border in Mpondwe –Lhubiriha Town Council, Kasese district as the Fisheries Protection Unit Commander reopened the fish market five years after it had been shifted to the DRC side.
In 2020, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni announced a Covid-19 induced lockdown and as a result the fish market at Mpondwe Customs border was shifted to the DRC side, leaving the Ugandan traders who no option apart from appealing to government to reopen the said market.
Yesterday, thousands of youth and the business community thronged the area to witness the reopening exercise of the once booming fish market.
Lt. Col. Mercy Tukahirwa, the Fisheries Protection Unit Commander while officiating at the function explained that over 100 business women dealing in the sale of fish at the Mpondwe border had lost their jobs following the closure of the market. According to her, even the revenue collections had dropped by 60%.
She was therefore optimistic that the reopening of the market would solve most challenges that the business community had been facing, advising Ugandans to sell their fish within the country’s markets in attempt to boost the economy of their motherland.
Mr. Moses Mugisa, the Mpondwe – Lhubiriha Town Clerk revealed that the return of the fish market to Uganda from the DRC means a lot to government. According to him Mpondwe –Lhubiriha Town Council had lost over shillings 600 million in form of local revenue.
Mr. John Mayunga Wafula, the Chairperson for the Fish Importers, Exporters and Transporters’ Association, stressed that most fish markets across the country are closing because of some traders who do not wish well to the nation.
He also disclosed that 90% of the people dealing in fish are Ugandans who sometimes refuse to sell their fish in Uganda and opt to go to DRC despite the challenges that they go through while there.
Speaking in a jovial mood, some of the traders hailed President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for appointing what they described as a strong woman, Lt. Col. Mercy Tukahirwa as the Fisheries Protection Unit Commander.
The traders, who did not hide their excitement, revealed that their cry had been answered after suffering for close to five years without jobs.
ENDS