Following several complaints by vendors at mpanga market, we headed to the market to ascertain the situation on ground. A strong stench is what welcomed us. On visiting the toilets, were realized these are blocked with decomposing urine and other fecal matter all over the surfaces. We ask one of the traders, how they’ve coped with such a situation.

In 2019, Fort portal city authorities entered into an agreement with MTN through Daj communications to use the market for branding purposes, paying an annual fee of 20 million shillings. This money was meant for maintenance of the market toilets. We tasked some of the authorities to explain why this has not been done.

Out of the more than 52 million shillings collected from this market in form of taxes and rental fees by Fort Portal council, part of this money is supposed to be brought back to the market to carryout maintenance work.

However, Keneth Kaliba, the Fort portal city councilor who also doubles as its chief whip says the market has not received a shilling for the past years to carry out such works.

Efforts to speak to the Fort portal city clerk on the matter were futile since all his phone numbers were not available by the time we wrote this story.

 The 11.3 billion Market was constructed by the Government of Uganda in 2013 in Fort Portal City.

It is one of the modern Markets countrywide that were built under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP-1) a Multi-million dollar project supported by the Government and the African Development Bank.