By HOMELAND MEDIA NEWSROOM
A section of Kampala city councilors were on Friday arrested by police and further remanded to Kitalya Prison for allegedly staging a walk to inspect roads which were gazetted for street vendors.
This followed disruption of business in the council as councillors donning shirts with the inscription: ” “Omutembeeyi si muyeekera” [meaning that a vendor is not a rebel], put up placards demanding for the return of vendors to the roads gazetted for them.
As the speaker Zahrah Luyirika begged the councillors to calm down, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago pleaded with the council to adopt a motion to have all arrested vendors freed and compensated.
Lukwago and the councillors agreed to distance themselves from the actions of the Kampala RCC Hood Hussein, who led the efforts to evict the vendors.
Shortly after, councillors stood up holding placards demanding to inspect the roads that were given to the evicted vendors. They promptly marched out.
As soon as they got to the streets of Kampala, security personnel arrested them and shepherded to CPS, they were paraded to court and remanded to Kitalya Prison until Wednesday next week.
The deputy spokesperson Kampala Metropolitan Luke Owoyesigyire refused confirm the number of councillor arrested or their charges.
A couple of years ago, KCCA gazetted Allen street, Ssebana Kizito Road and Namirembe Road as work spaces for vendors in the evening hours but this agreement was breached last month when the KCCA enforcement team commanded by Hussein swept the vendors off the streets.
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