Owino set for Shs1.5 trillion upgrade

In Summary

Mr Kayongo said the market will be developed in two phases, with the first and second phase taking three years and seven years respectively.

A plan to reconstruct St Balikuddembe (Owino) market into a modern complex has been unveiled.
Mr Godfrey Kayongo, who chairs the St Balikuddembe Market Stalls, Space and Lockup Shops Owners Association Ltd (SSLOA), the group behind the project, said a financer who will inject $400m [approx. Shs1.5 trillion] in the 10-year project has been identified and designs drawn.

Mr Kayongo said the market will be developed in two phases, with the first and second phase taking three years and seven years respectively.

“In the first phase, we shall construct a relocation market for the vendors. Close to 6,000 of them have already registered and booked space in the proposed new market,” he explained.

He observed that ground- breaking for the first phase is expected to take place on January 15. According to the architectural plans, the facility will be developed into a 13-multistoryed market with a capacity of 14,000 shops and lockups and a reserved floor free of partitions for people who can’t afford renting lockups.

After its completion, the market will accommodate at least 40,000 vendors, double the number that it holds in the makeshift form now, said Mr Kayongo, who is also the President’s adviser on markets.

He said SSLOA has signed a three-year Memorandum of understanding with Ketza International, a Canadian-based company to develop a resettlement market plan for the first phase.
Ketza International Chief Executive Officer in Uganda, Mr Gregory Stinson, said they had already opened boundaries for the temporary relocation site with construction works expected to start next year.

“Currently, we only have a contract to invest in the first phase of developing the market, which we hope will cost Shs 171.7nb,” Mr Stinson said in an interview recently.

The lease
According to Mr Wilberforce Mubiru, the SSLOA spokesperson, the financer of the project has been allocated a 20-year lease to recover his investment funds.

About Owino
Owino market is located on three acres of land comprising plots 388, 1431 and 1339 on more than 3 acres in Kisenyi. Traders bought the land from government but KCCA had refused to give them titles. However, recently KCCA handed over all the titles to the land that the market occupies after traders sought court redress. After the titles were handed over, the vendors’ management identified a potential financer to redevelop Owino into a modern market.

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