Just in: Government suspends trade order operations, apologises for demolished churches, mosques

The government of Uganda has suspended the enforcement of trade order operations across the country following complaints from religious leaders, traders and Members of Parliament over the manner in which the exercise was being carried out.

State Minister for Industry David Bahati announced on the floor of Parliament on Friday, that the suspension would allow time for further consultations before a revised approach is introduced in July.

He said concerns raised by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, churches, mosques and vendors had forced government to rethink the implementation of the directive.

“Since these issues were discussed here, we have received a number of complaints including the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda and we had a meeting with the council members,” Bahati said.

While the trade order was intended to restore order in trading centres and encourage proper use of government-built markets, many of which remain underutilised, the minister admitted that many mistakes were made in enforcement.

“The question of the trade order is that we want to bring order in the areas we are operating because the government has built markets and the markets were not being used,” he said.

Religious leaders complain over demolitions and remarks

The operation, which started in Kampala before spreading to other parts of the country, involved clearing vendors from streets, road reserves and informal trading spaces, while also targeting structures considered to be operating illegally.

In several areas, churches, mosques and roadside worship centres were also affected, with some structures reportedly demolished or marked for removal, sparking outrage from religious leaders.

Bahati admitted mistakes were made during enforcement, especially where places of worship were treated like vending spaces.

“Churches and mosques were not supposed to be bundled with vendors because they are not in the business of vending,” he said.

He also apologised for offensive remarks reportedly made by enforcement officers.

“We did apologise to the religious leaders because sometimes when our people were moving during this operation, they were making reckless comments, telling Pentecostals that you go back to where you came from, telling the Muslims that they were making a lot of noise. We apologised,” Bahati said.

MPs criticise poor consultation

Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju raised concerns that the operation had destroyed livelihoods and left many small business owners stranded without alternatives. He asked government what plans were in place to restore lost businesses.

Erute South MP Jonathan Odur also criticised the process, saying government acted before consulting key stakeholders.

Erute South MP Jonathan Odur

“Everyone wants this country to be orderly. But you don't just wake up and decide to take actions, you must consult,” Odur said.

“This trade order was a matter of shooting and aiming after. There was no consultation. Why start something before engaging the key stakeholders?” he added.

Bahati said government will now hold a final consultation meeting at the end of June before deciding on a more refined enforcement model to begin in early July.

“We have now suspended the trade order until we have done more consultations,” he said.

The pause is expected to bring temporary relief to traders and religious institutions that had been caught up in the sweeping operation.