A dispute between Bukedea Town Council and the Orongat Contractors and Vendors Association has escalated, prompting the deployment of police and military personnel at Bukedea Market amid disagreements over an alleged UGX 168 million debt owed to the council.
The deployment followed attempts by the town council to take over management of the market after the association reportedly failed to meet a June 30, 2026 deadline to clear outstanding arrears or vacate the premises.The council had maintained that the association would only continue operating the market upon settling its financial obligations.
However, by July 6, no payments had reportedly been made, leading the council to consider temporarily handing over the market to another operator while vetting a new contractor. Tensions heightened on Sunday evening after town council officials learned that the transferred Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), James Luyimbazi, had granted the association a two-month extension to continue managing the market despite the unpaid arrears.
In a letter dated June 25, 2026, Luyimbazi granted the association an extension covering July and August 2026, stating that the period would allow the contractor to clear the outstanding UGX 168 million in revenue arrears as well as meet obligations for the additional two months. The council objected to the extension, arguing that the decision was made without consultation and insisting that preparations to take over the market should proceed.
On Monday, a team of town council leaders led by Bukedea LCIII Chairperson Samuel Engole reportedly moved to assess the market ahead of the planned takeover but found police and army personnel deployed around the facility. Emmy Lorika, the Bukedea District Police Commander, said the deployment was intended to maintain law and order amid rising tensions between the two parties.
“We are there to ensure that the decision that the CAO made is maintained since he is the one with the powers as the accounting officer, not the town clerk,” Lorika said.Lorika urged the parties to remain calm and allow the extension period granted by the CAO to run its course.
“Let us remain calm since the CAO has taken a decision and see in the two months if these people will again fail to pay the arrears,” he added. Sam Okimat, Chairperson of the Orongat Contractors and Vendors Association, acknowledged delays in remitting the money but pledged that the association would clear the arrears within the extension period.
“We have made a promise to pay that money by the end of the two months, as it has been directed by the CAO. We have been running this business, and we pay the revenue that belongs to the government. I want to apologize that there have been delays in remitting the money to the town council, but we have been having challenges in running the market,” Okimat said. Okimat said the association sought intervention from security agencies after receiving information that councillors intended to disrupt operations at the market.
“This deployment was necessary because we made a call to security to intervene; otherwise, many people could have been harmed, and others could have lost their properties because of these market issues,” he said. The town council alleges that the association has for years avoided settling its obligations by frequently changing the names under which market tenders are awarded, making it difficult to recover outstanding arrears.
By the time of filing this story, police patrol vehicles from Serere, Kumi, Ngora and Bukedea districts remained deployed at the market. Efforts to obtain a comment from Bukedea Town Council LCIII Chairperson Samuel Engole were unsuccessful, as his known telephone contacts were switched off. URN