Archive for category: Rwenzori Apple farmers

Traders from Karamoja have described as a relief, the reopening of Moroto- Mbale- Muyembe road, saying that it will ease access to bigger markets and reduce their cost of doing business.

The route, preferred by traders transporting merchandise from the Sebei sub-region to Karamoja, was closed at the start of May by the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) for maintenance, forcing traders from the districts of Bugisu and Sebei to take a 350km detour from Mbale through Soroti, Katakwi, Napak to Moroto, before connecting to Nakapiripirit and Amudat.

The road’s closure followed flash floods in the area which had washed away the Namaler and Cheptui bridges that link Mbale to Karamoja.

Following the closure, there was a spike in the prices of foodstuffs in Karamoja, with suppliers blaming the long transport routes for the hike in prices. A cross-section of traders told theCooperator that where they would only cover 117kms from Mbale to Karamoja directly, they were now covering 350km on the route through Teso.

Josephine Nangiro, a trader in Moroto town told theCooperator that as a result of the road closure, the cost of transporting an 100kg-bag of maize flour from Mbale to Moroto had increased to Shs. 10,000, from the original Shs. 5,000. As a result, the price of maize flour had increased by up to 23%, from Shs. 3,000 to Shs. 3,700 per kilo. A survey by this publication also found that the price of sugar in Moroto Municipality had increased by 12.5%, from Shs. 4000 per kilogram to Shs. 4,500, while a mere three tomatoes cost between Shs. 2,000 to Shs. 3,000 depending on size, from a previous Shs.1000.

On Wednesday 11th of June, the road was re-opened to the public after inspection by the State minister for works Peter Lokeris Aimat.

Lokeris urged UNRA to maintain close monitoring of built roads to prevent emergency interventions that required the closure of roads that often complicate business and livelihoods for the ordinary people. “You need to do routine monitoring of these marram roads so that where you detect a problem, you repair that part immediately to avoid getting over damaged,” he said.

With the reopening, Nangiro was optimistic that they would now be able to lower food prices. Karamoja gets about 97% of its food from the neighboring districts of Sebei, Bugisu, Teso, Lango and Acholi.

Patrick Wamuno, the chairperson of Bugisu traders Association based in Moroto told thecooperator that he was organizing to call for a meeting of all the Association’s registered traders to see how to lower the prices of food stuffs with the shorter route’s reopening. “We’re expecting the transport costs to decline, so we shall no longer need to increase the prices of food,” he said.

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Money Changers at Elegu, Uganda’s border with South Sudan in Atiak Sub County, Amuru district are counting losses after majority have been pushed out of the business due to Covid 19.

At the time of the lockdown, there were over 50 money-changers stationed at the border crossing but a recent investigation by theCooperator found that the number has since declined to 10 owing to limited cross-border movement as a result of COVID-19 related restrictions.

Moses Muganwa, one of the money-changers who’s stayed on at the border told theCooperator that where he would make profits of at least Shs. 70,000 a day before the lockdown, he now struggles to make as little as Shs. 20,000.

Muganwa says that during normal times, money changers exchange Uganda Shillings, Kenyan shillings, and South Sudanese Pounds. But, he noted, “At the moment, the business is down, the demand is very low and many of our colleagues are no longer in business and some have even returned to their homes.’’

Joyce Ndagire, Muganwa’s colleague says she only decided against going home for fear of spending even her capital. “I decide to keep here so that I am able to get at least Shs. 10,000, for feeding the children. Had I gone home, I would by now have already eaten even the capital,’’ she said.

LCII Vice Chairperson Elegu town council, Godfrey Muhoozi, said the entire business has been paralyzed due to Covid 19, especially with strict vigilance against cross-border movements. He said that the new Ministry of Health guidelines against allowing entry of truck drivers who test positive for COVID-19 has further exacerbated the problem. “Looking at the numbers of the truck drivers from different countries who have since pulled out, definitely the money changers have no way for survival,” he said.

The LCV Chairperson Amuru district, Michael Lakony told theCooperator that being a border district, money exchange and cross-border trade was one of the biggest revenue sources for the district, and that the district is now trying to adjust to the inevitable revenue shortfalls as a result of the lock down.

On 1st June, President Museveni allowed the resumption of public transport as part of the steps to gradually reopen the economy, but cross-border movements remain suspended except for COVID19-negative truck drivers. Uganda has so far registered 679 cases of Covid19, a significant number of which have been from truck-drivers coming through Elegu border.

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Masindi taxi drivers under their umbrella organization Masindi Taxi Drivers and Operators Association (MATDOA) have welcomed the decision to reopen public transport, saying that they’re ready to resume work while observing in-place guidelines to contain the spread of COVID-19.

On June 1st, President Museveni lifted the ban on public transport that had in place for 75 days, as part of the steps to gradually reopen the economy that had been significantly grounded by a raft of measures designed to stop the spread of corona virus.

Speaking to the nation for the 15th time since the start of the pandemic at State House Nakasero, Museveni noted that henceforth taxis and buses would be allowed to resume operations, provided they carried only 50% passenger capacity to observe social-distancing guidelines. He however maintained the ban in 40 districts bordering the neighboring countries.

In an interview with theCooperator shortly after the presidential address, Musatafa Barungi, the MATDOA chairperson welcomed the new directives, saying it was a relief to many of the association’s members. “We have been living in a terrible situation because most of us have not been working at all. Our taxis are our livelihoods,” he said.

Barungi added that they were ready to implement the necessary guidelines to limit the risks of spreading the virus as much as possible. “Before a passenger enters our vehicle, they must wash hands, sanitize and also have masks. As much as we want to work, we know that we must take the necessary caution to stay safe,” he explained.

He however appealed to government to revise curfew hours, from the present 7:00pm – 6:00am to between 10:00am and 5:00am, owing to the traffic jam that would be inevitable when all the taxis and buses return to the roads. He also expressed worry about the still low numbers of travelling passengers, since many other sectors of the economy remain grounded. “We are expecting to send between 7 to 10 taxis in Kampala a day instead of the 20 taxis we have been sending. We normally transport students, lecturers and business people but now they are not moving,” noted Barungi.

Asked about how they were reacting to the cap on passenger numbers, Birungi said they had no option but to increase transport fares. “The fare from Masindi to Kampala has been increased from shs.15000 to shs.25000, Masindi- Kigumba has been increased from shs.6000 to shs. 10,000 shillings, while from Masindi to Bweyale, it has increased from shs.12000 to shs.15000.

MATDOA has a total of 250 members who in addition to associating for work, also run a joint Savings and Credit Cooperative. Nicolas Musinguzi, the SACCO’s vice chairperson too welcomed the move to reopen public transport, noting that members had almost exhausted all their savings in the SACCO.

“Before we went into lockdown, we had savings of up to shs.21million, but as we speak, they have declined by 98%. This is because most of what we save is earned from our daily operations and we have not been working. But we are optimistic that with the re-opening of public transport we are going to resume saving”, he said.

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