Overview:
Nelson Kabanda, who is spearheading the registration of the affected traders, said they had been surviving on their own, but that is now impossible since the fire did not spare any businesses. Kabanda explained that furniture traders even lost the equipment used for processing timber.
More than 60 furniture traders and garage operators in Kavule, Makerere, who lost their businesses in Monday’s inferno have appealed to the government for financial support. The traders say they have no other option if the government does not help resuscitate their income-generating activities.
Nelson Kabanda, who is spearheading the registration of the affected traders, said they had been surviving on their own, but that is now impossible since the fire did not spare any businesses. Kabanda explained that furniture traders even lost the equipment used for processing timber.
“All our machinery was destroyed by the fire,” Kabanda said. “All the mattresses we had for making sofa seats were reduced to ashes. We had women running eateries, which were all burned down. This is the moment when the government should come and support us.”
Kabanda said he lost all his compressors, while Ali Siraje Nsereko said most traders lost newly stocked furniture, timber, and leather used to make seats and chairs. Nsereko added that without support, many of them will find it very difficult to recover.
Wahabu Kalanzi estimates that the seats and compressors he lost are worth over 70 million shillings. He said most of them have been running their businesses on money acquired from banks and microfinance institutions.
“I had nine ready-for-sale sofa seats and I had just sold one, the rest perished in the fire,” Kalanzi said. “I had stocked timber and mattress pieces that I used to make these seats, but all were destroyed. I lost over 70 million shillings.”
Monica Wakuze said many of her colleagues used their workplaces as shelters. They operated their businesses during the day and turned the kiosks into bedrooms at night. She said she does not know where they are now living.
“People were using the places as workplaces as well as homes, you work during the day and rest in the same place at night, but everything was burned to ashes,” Wakuze said.
Furniture makers Fred Ssemukutu, Nelson Kabanda, and Wahabu Kalanzi said the only solution is government support because they are headed for financial trouble. Kalanzi and Ssemukutu noted that banks and microfinance institutions rarely listen to ordinary people, even when such tragedies occur.
“The banks will continue charging interest even after seeing what has happened here,” Kalanzi said. “We ordinary people are never listened to by these financial institutions. That is why we need government support so that we can stand again.”
Although no lives were lost in the Makerere-Kavule inferno, police are piecing together evidence to establish the exact cause. Some say it was caused by an electrical fault, others suspect an unattended charcoal stove or burning rubbish.
John Kabanda, President of Federation of Uganda Traders Associations (FUTA) an organisation that advocates for rights of traders said the list of affected traders will be shared with government leaders in Kampala to source help for affected.
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