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Kampala city landlords, government officials meet to reopen arcades The meeting was, among other issues, expected to discuss the report from the inspection team to guide the re-opening of arcades and to receive guidance from the National Task Force COVID-19 on re-opening of arcades.

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Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde and ministers for Kampala Betty Amongi and Benny Namugwanya have today held a meeting with arcade owners at the office of the Prime Minister to forge a way forward on the re-opening of arcades which were closed by President Yoweri Museveni in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.

Some of the arcade owners who were present for the meeting include City tycoon and property mogul, Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia and businessman Hamis Kiggundu among others.

“The inspection team has inspected 77 properties and out of them, there are 48 that have been cleared and I think it’s important that landlords work towards making sure that they adhere to the SOPs and the conditions which have been brought up by the committee and also we want the tenants to also adhere to these SOPs. So we can have a safe environment for everybody, for tenants for landlords and for our customers who come there.

“So it’s a good step so everybody should get certified and ready to open once the certification is done, the ones who got cleared on SOPs are already open. Those having any issues should just adhere to the regulations and move forward,” said property mogul Sudhir Ruparelia.

Kampala Capital City & Metropolitan Affairs Minister Betty Amongi , had on behalf of the government, written to various city traders inviting them for a meeting today in preparation for the reopening of arcades and related business premises.

In her letter dated 13th July, 2020 Amongi wrote to the Representatives of Landlords in Kampala, the respective Chairpersons of Kampala Capital City Traders association (KACITA), Kampala Arcaders Advocacy Forum and also the Chairperson of KATA.

“As you are aware, H.E the President in his 15th Address to the Nation on COVID-19 directed the Minister’s responsible for Trade, Health and Kampala to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for re-opening of the Arcades and conduct a re-opening trial for those that have complied and report back to cabinet, “reads an excerpt from the letter.

The meeting was, among other issues, expected to address the following concerns; To discuss the report from the inspection team to guide the re-opening of arcades and to receive guidance from the National Task Force COVID-19 on re-opening of arcades.

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“To this effect on the 26th June, 2020 an inter-ministerial committee comprising of Minister of Trade, industry and cooperatives, minister for Kampala Capital City & Metropolitan Affairs and the Ministry of Health sat and established a technical committee chaired by the Resident city Commissioner (RCC),” she elaborates in the letter.

This technical committee is composed of Senior Presidential Advisor on Pandemics, representatives from the Directorate of Public Health and Environment under KCCA, Technical officers from the Ministry responsible for Trade, selected representatives of Landlords and representatives from City Traders’ Associations (KACITA, KATA & KAAFO).

The above technical committee was charged with the formulation of a criteria that would guide the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) to be followed for the pilot re-opening of arcaded in the central business district (CBD).

These guidelines were formulated, submitted and adopted by the Ministry of Health. The same guidelines were shared with City Traders; associations leadership and disseminated to all landlords to guide them on what should be put in place to have their buildings reopened.

By close Friday, 10th July, 2020 the KCCA inspection teams had conducted inspections of 77 arcades at the invitation of ready Landlords in the city of which over 40 have so far met the criteria set in the SOPs and these are ready for opening. The inspections are still ongoing for the remaining arcades.

KACITA mobilises traders to open shop

Yesterday, Kampala City Traders Association-KACITA mobilised traders in arcades to reopen their shops today in protest against continued closure by government.

Last week, KACITA gave a five-day ultimatum to government to reopen arcades after four months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.


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