National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretary General, Rt Hon Richard Todwong, has promised to rescue thousands of city vendors from exploitative loan sharks and harsh law enforcers.
Todwong made this commitment while meeting with leaders of vendors from Kampala at the party headquarters on Sunday, July 6.
According to Todwong, money lenders have become a significant problem for vendors, charging exorbitant interest rates that hinder their growth.
“From the look of things, they are really suffering in the sense that they are always with moneylenders,” Todwong said. “Moneylenders have taken advantage of them. They give them little money with very high interest. You find someone borrowing 20,000 shillings and pays back at an interest rate of 20% and they will never grow because they are working to just pay money lenders.”
Todwong emphasized that vendors can benefit from government programs such as the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyoga, and the GROW project under the gender ministry.
“Many of them have not even heard about such programs,” Todwong said. “So part of the sensitization we are doing with them is to mobilize them, to form them into an association that can make them perform better and get out of the hooks of money lenders.”
The party has registered at least 2,000 vendors, with more expected to be registered and mobilized to benefit from government programs.
Todwong also noted that many vendors have complained about the confiscation of their merchandise by officials from Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA).
“At times when KCCA enforcement officers come to evict them from the streets, they grab all their capital and they go away with it,” Todwong said. “And that generates bitterness to them.”
Todwong emphasized that most vendors are single mothers who bear the burden of caring for children and providing for other family members.
“We cannot now start discussing where their husbands are or what happened to their husbands,” Todwong said. “We just need to pick on from there and see how best we can help them as single mothers.”
Todwong condemned attacks on innocent civilians by youths claiming to be NRM supporters and cautioned candidates against engaging in violent clashes.
“We sent out information to our members that we shall not tolerate such behaviors,” Todwong said. “We are civil in nature. We respect everybody and we expect to be respected in return.”
Todwong warned that disciplinary action would be taken against candidates who engage in violent behavior or misuse opportunities.
“We have sent information to them and cautioned them that they should respect each other,” Todwong said. “They should not be violent in running for these positions. They should respect the voters. They should respect the system. They should respect the organs of the party.”
