By Ben Musanje
A week after enforcement teams moved through downtown Kampala in a sweeping overnight operation to clear street vendors, the debate over livelihoods, legality and urban order took center stage at the fourth edition of the Radical New Bar (RNB) weekly press engagement hosted by the Uganda Law Society.
Police and officials from the Kampala Capital City Authority dismantled wooden and metal stalls that had crowded sidewalks and building verandas for years, acting after the expiry of a two-week ultimatum issued by Kampala Minister Minsa Kabanda. Authorities described the operation as necessary to restore order in a central business district long defined by congestion and informal trade.
But inside the Uganda Law Society headquarters in Kololo, the conversation moved beyond enforcement to a deeper question: what happens to thousands of Ugandans whose daily survival depends on street vending?
Advocate Ssali Babu, Acting Secretary of the Uganda Law Society, framed RNB Live as more than a discussion forum. Anchored in Section 3 of the Uganda Law Society Act, Cap 305, he said the Society is legally mandated to assist in matters relating to legislation and the administration of justice, protect the public in matters relating to the law, and promote the rule of law and access to justice.
That mandate, he argued, does not permit silence when livelihoods and legal rights collide. It demands structured accountability spaces where public officials, affected communities and legal professionals engage openly and constructively.
The timing is delicate. Uganda has just concluded general elections, a period that tests the resilience of legal frameworks and the credibility of dispute resolution mechanisms. Against that backdrop, the street vendor crackdown has become both a governance and constitutional conversation.
Representing formal traders, Issa Sekitto, Acting Chairperson of KACITA, painted a picture of a constituency often overlooked in the public sympathy extended to street vendors. He described traders in arcades as young entrepreneurs who pooled savings to rent shops, paying between three and four million shillings monthly, alongside trading licenses, income tax, presumptive tax, electricity, security and garbage collection fees.
Kampala contributes the largest share of Uganda’s tax revenue, he noted, arguing that when compliant traders are undercut, the effects ripple beyond individual businesses to the national economy. Traders operating without rent or licensing obligations, he said, can sell the same goods at lower prices, driving formal businesses toward collapse.
After years of petitions and more than 80 letters to authorities seeking enforcement of existing laws against unauthorized street trading, Sekitto insisted that the recent operation should not be characterized as cruelty. In his view, it is enforcement of long-standing regulations necessary to ensure fairness and preserve the tax base that funds public services.
Yet another layer of the debate came from Thaddeus Musoke Nagenda, Executive Director of the National Entrepreneurs and Traders Association. He argued that street vending is primarily an economic survival issue. High rents in arcades sometimes ranging from five to eight million shillings, combined with rising utility bills and annual rent increments, push many small traders out of formal spaces.
For those with limited capital, selling on the street dramatically reduces overhead costs and preserves thin profit margins. Enforcement alone, he warned, cannot solve the problem. Vendors need practical alternatives, including affordable market spaces, improved infrastructure in underutilized markets, and access to simplified financing mechanisms. Existing programs such as the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Uganda Development Bank (UDB) facilities often remain out of reach for informal traders due to documentation requirements and bureaucratic complexity.
Salim Uhuru, Mayor of Kampala Central Division, acknowledged the political sensitivity of the issue but defended the need for order. City leaders, he said, agreed on clear terms: vendors must vacate the streets, with additional strategies to address taxi operators and boda boda riders contributing to congestion.
He emphasized that street vending in itself is not inherently criminal, pointing to examples in European cities where it is organized within defined parameters. Kampala, he said, must find structured alternatives such as utilizing spaces like Kiseke Market while ensuring safety and preventing a rise in petty crime that can accompany economic displacement.
The constitutional dimension of the debate loomed large. Participants referenced protections under Uganda’s Constitution, including inherent rights, equality and freedom from discrimination, freedom of association, the right to practice a lawful trade, and the limitation clause that allows restrictions in the public interest provided they are lawful and proportionate.
Daniel Muhumuza Nuwabiine, spokesperson for KCCA, underscored public health and sanitation concerns. The removal of makeshift structures, he said, exposed blocked drainage channels and damaged sewer systems, particularly in commercial hubs like Kikubo, where property owners have been issued nuisance notices to repair infrastructure. Vendors placing goods over drainage lines, he argued, created hidden hazards that only became apparent when systems failed.
For city authorities, the crackdown is about balancing urban governance, economic fairness and public health. For traders and vendors, it is about survival, profit margins and the right to earn a living.
By convening both sides at one table, the Uganda Law Society signaled that the future of Kampala’s streets will not be determined solely by enforcement teams or political pronouncements. It will also be shaped by legal scrutiny, economic realities and a continuing negotiation over what fairness, order and justice mean in a rapidly growing city.
