Soroti woman MP blocked from accessing new market

The Police on Tuesday blocked the Soroti City Woman MP from accessing the new modern market.

Joan Alobo was expected at the market, but the police cordoned off the area, forcing the MP to resort to Agip Market in Soroti City East Division.

According to Alobo, she had shared her program with the City authorities including security personnel two weeks ago but was surprised that she was denied access. She says that her interest in the market was interacting with vendors on several issues concerning the allocation of lockups and other developments for the city.

Oscar Greg Ageca, the East Kyoga Regional Police Spokesman says Alobo didn’t consult security personnel for guidance since the market is congested with over 2,000 vendors.

Alobo’s planned visit comes just a week after the Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi gave Soroti City authorities an ultimatum of three weeks to resolve the mess in the allocation of space to vendors.

Magyezi, who was in Soroti, tasked the authorities in Soroti City to avail his office with the list of market vendors currently occupying stalls at Soroti Main Market. The directive followed allegations that the stalls and lockups were allocated to city officials and unknown vendors.

Some aggrieved vendors have also run to court after failing to access space in the new market and are demanding over one billion shillings from the city council as damages.

URN