Lira Main Market Vendors Association Archives - The Uhuru Institute for Social Development

Lira Main Market On Brink Of Ruin

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LIRA – Business in the new Lira Main Market is limping and troubled, six years after the market was officially opened in 2015.

Business in the market has edged down and traders have refused to pay taxes to the City Council Authority. Power has also been switched off over an unpaid bill of Shs 36 million piled up over the last three months.
The Shs 28 billion Lira main market, managed by Lira City Authority, was officially opened in February 2015.

It was built under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme Project 1 (MATIP-1).

But the over 600 market traders have stopped paying utilities and rent – denying Lira City Authority about Shs 27 million in monthly revenue, theCooperator has has learnt.

Interviewed for this story, some traders said the disconnection of power has greatly affected their businesses.

https://thecooperator.news/51-saccos-in-lira-get-emyooga-funds/

Babra Awio, a food vendor, said her business has been crippled by the lack of water and power in the market. She said she opens for business late and closes by 4:30pm due to lack of power.

“We are just making huge losses. I used to make between Shs 50, 000 to Shs 80, 000 in profit on a daily basis. But now I take home less than Shs 10,000 due to lack of power in the market. Sometimes, I go home empty handed,” she said in a telephone interview on May 26.

Eddy Olara, a dealer in second hand shoes, is contemplating relocating his business.

Emmanuel Okello, another shoe dealer, said he has lost several customers because he leaves early. Interviewed, William Apea, the chairperson Lira Main Market Vendors Association, said many traders are relocating their businesses.

“It is the responsibility of the city authority to clear the power bills but they have not done that leading to the disconnection. A number of traders have started shifting their businesses to a better location and this would mean a total loss to the City Authority,” he said.

Morris Ebong, the General Secretary for Lira Main Market, said most vendors refused to pay the bill because of shared meters.

But Richard Okello, the Lira City Council commercial officer, said Lira Municipal Council has partnered with Energy Africa Empowerment, a solar company, to supply and install solar panels in the market.

Lira Deputy Town Clerk, Emmanuel Oyuku Ocen, said the council has not collected any money from the market.

“Yes electricity was disconnected about a month ago over unpaid bills of Shs 29 million since we have not collected any money from the market. Of course if the vendors do not pay taxes, the council will not be able to provide basic utilities but tell them to pay revenue so that the matter is settled,” he said.

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Aduku Council Boss Warns Boda-Boda Riders

/in acholi, Aduku Town, Africa, agricultural, Agricultural Credit, Agriculture, Analysis, Animal Welfare, Ankole, Apple Growers in Uganda, bank, banking, Banks, Banyankole Kweterana, boda boda, Boda Boda cooperative, bribes, Buganda Kingdom, Bunyoro, Busia, Business, Busoga, Central, Cereals, charcoal, Chickens, cholera, Church, citrus farmers, city centre, climate change, Coffee, Coffee Cooperative, Coffee farmers, Coffee farming, coop, Coop Bank, coop week, Cooperative, cooperative accountability, Cooperative Governance, Cooperative society, Cooperative Union, cooperatives, Cooperatives & Communities, Cooperatives Governance, cooperators, Coopertives, coopweek, Cotton farming, Counter-Strike, court, Covid-19, dairy, deforestation, Democracy, Development, Diaspora, DroughT in Uganda, EAC, East Africa, East African Community, Eastern, economic, Economy, Elders, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, environment, Fake agro-inputs, Famine, Farmers, farming, Featured, Finance, Finance & Banking, Financial, fishing, floods, food, Foods, Fraud, Frontpage Article, Gambia, global, government, Green Revolution in Africa, Gulu, hailstorms, health, Housing, IK Musaazi, Images, International Coffee Day, Interview, Irrigation, Irrigation schemes, Kabaka, Kabarole, Kampala, Kasese, kasese fish farmers, kasese floods, Kenya, Kilimo Trust, Kwania Boda-Boda Riders’ Association, Legal, Life Style, Lira City, Lira City Authority, Lira Main Market, Lira Main Market Vendors Association, Loans, Lwengo, Maize, Market Information, Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme Project 1 (MATIP-1), masaka, Masaka Elders Cooperative Union, Masindi, masindi bodaboda, matatus, Micro-finance, MicroFinance, Microfinance Support Centre, Middlemen, milk processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Environment, moroto, motorcycles, MTN, Music, Mwalimu National Sacco, NAADS, National Coffee Bill, News, nigeria, Northern, NSSF, Oil, Opinion, Opinions, Organisations, orphanage, OWC, Parliament, Pesticides, Politics, Post harvest loses, Preservation of Bean, President Mnangagwa, Quote, Regional, registration, Report, Rhino Camp ginnery, Rice farming, roads, Rwanda, Rwenzori Apple farmers, Sacco, SACCOs, standards, storage of cereals, strike, sugar cane out-grower, Tanzania, tax, taxes, teachers, Technology, Trade, Transport, TV, UCDA, Uganda, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda Cooperative Alliance, Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, Uhuru Institute, umeme, Uncategorized, Waterborne diseases, weather, Western, World, World News, yoghurt, Youth, zimbabwe /by tc

ADUKU – Obaya Keny James, the town clerk of Aduku Town Council, has told boda-boda riders that their life of pleasures must be tempered with caution.

He said their knack for lavish spending on booze and betting will only keep them trapped in poverty.

Speaking to theCooperator recently, Obaya said a sweeping none-tax compliance crackdown on May 25 impounded over 100 motorbikes in the town center for failing to remit the annual operational license fees.

“We have impounded 103 boda-boda motorcycles in a massive operation targeting riders who have failed to pay the annual operational license fee of Shs 70,000 for the last two years. How can a boda-boda rider who makes about Shs 50,000 a day fail to pay the annual subscription of Shs 70,000? Let them stop living luxurious lifestyles and be responsible,” he said in an interview.

He said on average, the Aduku Town Council has lost more than Shs 100 million in unpaid taxes.

https://thecooperator.news/kwania-boda-operators-protest-government-tax/

“During the last financial year 2019/2020, Aduku Town Council collected only Shs 50.3 million in local revenue out of the projected Shs 156 million (about 34.0%). This has greatly affected service delivery,” he said.

Aduku Town Council Vice Chairman Peter Otim said a number of council activities have been put off due to poor local revenue compliance. Although many businesses were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, Otim asked the business fraternity to pay local government taxes in order to improve on service delivery.

“I am appealing to the business fraternity, endeavor to pay the local taxes as this would enable the urban authority to manage garbage and generally improve on service delivery,” he noted.

Margaret Adero, a member of Kwania Boda-Boda Riders’ Association, said the Covid-19 induced lockdown has negatively impacted the boda-boda industry. “Even if we get these motorbikes out, we wouldn’t make money from them. Boda-bodas have just resumed operation and we should be given time to recover from the Covid-19 negative effects,” she said.

The Chairperson Kwania Boda Boda Motorcyclists Association, Walter Opyene described the crackdown as ‘untimely.’ He argued that during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, boda-boda riders were restricted and hardly made any money. He argued that the government should organize the sector and help boda-boda operators diversify into other economic activities like agriculture.

“We have multi-purpose boda-boda cooperatives and if they (government) can give us money, we can engage in other economic ventures like agriculture, so that we don’t have to only rely on riding boda-bodas for a living, which is difficult to survive on currently,” Opyene said.

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Cattle Rustling Derails Farming In Lamwo

/in acholi, Aduku Town, Africa, Agoro Self-Help Irrigation Cooperative Society, agricultural, Agricultural Credit, Agriculture, Analysis, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), Animal Welfare, Ankole, Apple Growers in Uganda, bank, banking, Banks, Banyankole Kweterana, boda boda, Boda Boda cooperative, bribes, Buganda Kingdom, Bunyoro, Busia, Business, Busoga, Cattle Rustling, Central, Cereals, charcoal, Chickens, cholera, Church, citrus farmers, city centre, climate change, Coffee, Coffee Cooperative, Coffee farmers, Coffee farming, coop, Coop Bank, coop week, Cooperative, cooperative accountability, Cooperative Governance, Cooperative society, Cooperative Union, cooperatives, Cooperatives & Communities, Cooperatives Governance, cooperators, Coopertives, coopweek, Cotton farming, Counter-Strike, court, Covid-19, dairy, deforestation, Democracy, Development, Diaspora, DroughT in Uganda, EAC, East Africa, East African Community, Eastern, economic, Economy, Elders, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, environment, Fake agro-inputs, Famine, Farmers, farming, Featured, Finance, Finance & Banking, Financial, fishing, floods, food, Foods, Fraud, Frontpage Article, Gambia, global, government, Green Revolution in Africa, Gulu, hailstorms, health, Housing, IK Musaazi, Images, International Coffee Day, Interview, Irrigation, Irrigation schemes, Kabaka, Kabarole, Kampala, Kasese, kasese fish farmers, kasese floods, Kenya, Kilimo Trust, Kwania Boda-Boda Riders’ Association, Lamwo District, Legal, Life Style, Lira City, Lira City Authority, Lira Main Market, Lira Main Market Vendors Association, Loans, Lwengo, Maize, Market Information, Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme Project 1 (MATIP-1), masaka, Masaka Elders Cooperative Union, Masindi, masindi bodaboda, matatus, Micro-finance, MicroFinance, Microfinance Support Centre, Middlemen, milk processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Environment, moroto, motorcycles, MTN, Music, Mwalimu National Sacco, NAADS, National Coffee Bill, News, nigeria, Northern, NSSF, Oil, Opinion, Opinions, Organisations, orphanage, OWC, Parliament, Pesticides, Politics, Post harvest loses, Preservation of Bean, President Mnangagwa, Quote, Regional, registration, Report, Rhino Camp ginnery, Rice farming, roads, Rwanda, Rwenzori Apple farmers, Sacco, SACCOs, standards, storage of cereals, strike, sugar cane out-grower, Tanzania, tax, taxes, teachers, Technology, Trade, Transport, TV, UCDA, Uganda, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda Cooperative Alliance, Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, Uhuru Institute, umeme, Uncategorized, Waterborne diseases, weather, Western, World, World News, yoghurt, Youth, zimbabwe /by tc

LAMWO – Cattle rustling has soared in Agoro Sub County, Lamwo District. It has diminished the oxen herd and subsequently frustrated commercial farming in the area.

Francis Todwong, the LC-I chairman of Tumanun village in Agoro Sub County, said several farmers are unable to plough their land because there are very few oxen and tractors.

“People used to rely a lot on oxen to plough their land but the animals have now been stolen by rustlers who invade villages in Agoro Sub County nearly every week,” he said recently.

Todwong said farmers in his village now use one tractor from the neighboring Palabek Gem Sub County.

“Due to the high demand for the tractor, the owner has also increased the rental fees from Shs 80,000 to Shs 100,000 per acre. We need more tractors to help us open land,” he said.

https://thecooperator.news/heavy-rains-worry-cassava-farmers/

But members of Agoro Self-Help Irrigation Cooperative Society in Agoro Sub County are lucky. In 2020, they were given a tractor by the National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS), a statutory semi-autonomous body under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).

Allan Ocaya, the chairperson of the cooperative, said members hire the tractor at Shs 80,000 while none-members get it at Shs 90,000 to plough an acre of land.

Ocaya, a victim of cattle rustling, said he lost two oxen and a dairy cow three years ago to rustlers. He said one ox was recovered by security personnel who pursued the thieves.

“People fear using oxen to plough their land because it’s no longer safe to use them. You have to get security men to guard you as you plough, otherwise, the South Sudanese rustlers who are always armed come and grab them in broad daylight,” he said.

Ocaya said the entire sub county is served by four tractors, which according to him, are not enough to meet the demand of over 6,000 farmers spread out in four parishes.

Cyrus Komakech, the Lamwo District agriculture officer, told theCooperator that cattle rustling has greatly affected land opening, multiplication of cattle and traditional marriage.

“Cattle rustlers do not discriminate during their raids. They take any animal they find including bulls and heifers. This has made it difficult for farmers to open large acres of land for cultivation,” he said.

“The heifers, which farmers would have used to multiply animals, are also targeted by the rustlers,” he said.

Statistics provided by the Lamwo Resident District Commissioner, James Nabinson Kidega Nok, show that over 3,200 cattle were stolen in 2020 from Lamwo District by Karimojong and South Sudanese.

The animals were stolen from the two sub counties of Agoro and Madi-Opei, which border South Sudan and Karamoja.

Kidega said 3,000 cattle were recovered while 200 are yet to be recovered.

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The post Cattle Rustling Derails Farming In Lamwo appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Heavy Rains Worry Cassava Farmers

/in acholi, Acholi- bur Cooperative Society, Aduku Town, Africa, Agoro Self-Help Irrigation Cooperative Society, agricultural, Agricultural Credit, Agriculture, Analysis, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), Animal Welfare, Ankole, Apple Growers in Uganda, bank, banking, Banks, Banyankole Kweterana, boda boda, Boda Boda cooperative, bribes, Buganda Kingdom, Bunyoro, Busia, Business, Busoga, Cassava growing, Cattle Rustling, Central, Cereals, charcoal, Chickens, cholera, Church, citrus farmers, city centre, climate change, Coffee, Coffee Cooperative, Coffee farmers, Coffee farming, coop, Coop Bank, coop week, Cooperative, cooperative accountability, Cooperative Governance, Cooperative society, Cooperative Union, cooperatives, Cooperatives & Communities, Cooperatives Governance, cooperators, Coopertives, coopweek, Cotton farming, Counter-Strike, court, Covid-19, dairy, deforestation, Democracy, Development, Diaspora, DroughT in Uganda, EAC, East Africa, East African Community, Eastern, economic, Economy, Elders, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, environment, Fake agro-inputs, Famine, Farmers, farming, Featured, Finance, Finance & Banking, Financial, fishing, floods, food, Foods, Fraud, Frontpage Article, Gambia, global, government, Green Revolution in Africa, Gulu, hailstorms, health, heavy rains, Housing, IK Musaazi, Images, International Coffee Day, Interview, Irrigation, Irrigation schemes, Kabaka, Kabarole, Kampala, Kasese, kasese fish farmers, kasese floods, Kenya, Kilimo Trust, Kwania Boda-Boda Riders’ Association, Lamwo District, Legal, Life Style, Lira City, Lira City Authority, Lira Main Market, Lira Main Market Vendors Association, Loans, Lwengo, Maize, Market Information, Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme Project 1 (MATIP-1), masaka, Masaka Elders Cooperative Union, Masindi, masindi bodaboda, matatus, Micro-finance, MicroFinance, Microfinance Support Centre, Middlemen, milk processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, Ministry of Water and Environment, moroto, motorcycles, MTN, Music, Mwalimu National Sacco, NAADS, National Coffee Bill, News, nigeria, Northern, NSSF, Oil, Opinion, Opinions, Organisations, orphanage, OWC, Pader District, Parliament, Pesticides, Politics, Post harvest loses, Preservation of Bean, President Mnangagwa, Quote, Regional, registration, Report, Rhino Camp ginnery, Rice farming, roads, Rwanda, Rwenzori Apple farmers, Sacco, SACCOs, standards, storage of cereals, strike, sugar cane out-grower, Tanzania, tax, taxes, teachers, Technology, Trade, Transport, TV, UCDA, Uganda, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda Cooperative Alliance, Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, Uhuru Institute, umeme, Uncategorized, Waterborne diseases, weather, Western, World, World News, yoghurt, Youth, zimbabwe /by tc

PADER – The unrelenting heavy rains battering Pader District are threatening to wipe out the livelihoods of cassava farmers in the northern district.

Cassava farmers allied to Acholi- bur Cooperative Society in Pader district are worried their crop will rot in the ground.

Farmers say when the rains started many had not uprooted their cassava from the farmlands.

“We cannot uproot now, the rains are too much and we have no better provisions for drying it so that it is sold,” Robert Okumu, the chairman of Acholi Bur Cooperative society, told theCooperator in a recent interview.

There are cassava varieties that last for only one and half years under the ground and if not uprooted in time, they rot, Okumu said.

Cassava is the biggest income earner for the cooperative farmers and if it’s not harvested in time, Okumu says, his people will lose millions of shillings.

The 600-member cooperative also grows soya-beans and groundnuts.

David Ogutu, a member of the cooperative, said the seasonal market is partly to blame.

“Imagine we are depending on only one buyer, that is Bukona Agro Processors, but if we had other factories in the region, we would have a choice. ” he said.

“The rains are too much and we do not have better technology for drying cassava at the moment. Some farmers got loans and one wonders how they will be able to pay back,” he said.

“We have reached out to the district leadership and discussed how best they can lobby and get for us drying machines that can help in the rainy season but we haven’t gotten any positive response,” he added.

Alfred Abaloker, the District Commercial Officer, said his office has lobbied but failed to get the Ministry of Agricultural and Animal Industry to help the farmers.

“It’s a big challenge to the farmers but my office cannot handle it alone. We requested for a machine that can help them (farmers) have their cassava dried during the rainy season so that they don’t incur losses but we have never been helped.” he said.

“We were given only tractors so that farmers can open big chunks of land,” he said.

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The post Heavy Rains Worry Cassava Farmers appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Lira Main Market On Brink Of Ruin

Aduku Council Boss Warns Boda-Boda Riders

Cattle Rustling Derails Farming In Lamwo

Heavy Rains Worry Cassava Farmers

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