By Julius Barigaba
Kampala, Feb 27 2009

Wednesday morning’s inferno at Park Yard, a section of Kampala’s largest market Owino, means a number of things for Uganda’s poor folks who looked to it not just as a means to eke out a livelihood but also as the source of number of basics.

First, it is said that some vendors, for fear of falling victim of robbery, kept their day’s earning stashed away in boxes within the market, along with the rest of their merchandise. Whether that is a smart or daft move, is another matter, but if that is true, then we are surely not just talking about billions worth of property and merchandise lost, are we?

For now, According to Kampala City Traders Association spokesman Issa Sekitto, the banks and micro credit lenders will not harass the traders to pay back, but there is no written agreement that this gentleman’s agreement will hold. Some of these traders were operating on micro credit loans as small as Ush100,000 ($50) as their capital. Now all of it has gone up in smoke, before the loan is repaid. Will the banks listen? And for how long?

Either the banks will run out of patience and let loose their hounds on the poor traders, or the traders will just bolt. Better to be on the run than to wait till the bailiffs to come calling. And speaking of which, some of these traders actually got money from loan sharks. Now, those are very very mean chaps, aren’t they? They don’t buy any excuse. You get the picture, right?

And yes, Owino is a designers’ resort. A fashion house of sorts. Look at it this way: among up market Kampalans, the flashiest store to buy your designer suit is Wina Classic, Plot 23 Kampala Road. But the ordinary guy will trek down to the muddy poodles of Owino Classic and pick his own Armani, albeit a used one.

When the G-Sting panties were the next hottest thing to French fries in this town, it was quite a scene to see women going through heaps and fighting one another to get the best second hand G-Strings in Owino We are essentially a second hand economy, aren’t we? You will wear a used suit, slip into used shoes, ride a used car, play music from a second hand radio, watch second hand TV and eat food preserved in a used fridge, what the heck?

Owino’s Park Yard was also the best place for many a young man to find cheap imitations of Premiership football shirts of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea. Sorry mate, no more cheap shirt.

When your interests are not in clothing, Owino will take care of your culinary needs, and for a bargain too. You can get a meal for $1. Or less, in fact. A cup of tea will range from Ushs400 to 600 (equivalent of US 20 to 30 cents), depending on the cup size, and whether or not it’s black or ‘milk’ tea. They have titanic cup sizes, but so do they, miniature cups.

This legendary market (sits on 7.02 acres, is allegedly the largest in East Africa) also signifies just more than business. It is a symbol of many things. It is a fashion trends setter, in its own right. It is a melting point of political activity, equipped with a swing vote capability as well, where political ambitions are sowed and harnessed (or lost, for some). Which is why politicians will start to scheme how to win the traders’ to their sides.

A few years ago, the then Mayor for Kampala candidate John Ssebaana Kizito went to campaign in Owino. But as the political game would dictate, he was compelled to “be one of us” and ate at one of the lowly diners in the market. Normally, this wouldn’t be the sort of joint Mr. Ssebaana should have his dinner (he is a very wealthy man), but hey, he needed their vote to take Kampala. And so the cameras got him, one hand holding a morsel of matooke, and the other, tipping a plate of stewed chicken toward his mouth, gulping away at the ‘soup’. See, this is no five course meal sort of place, so without a spoon, you have to improvise how to take your soup.

Of course he won the race hands down, thanks to dinner made in Owino. Mr. Ssebaana, who is now President General of the Democratic Party, offered Ush2 million ($1,000) on Wednesday to help the traders rebuild their businesses. Forum for Democratic Change President Kiiza Besigye offered to pay for the cost of rebuilding the stalls around the market. Area MP Erias Lukwago forked out Ush1 million ($500). Other politicians—legislators Nabilah Naggayi ($250) and Ssozi Kaddu Mukasa ($100) also weighed in.

Ok, all right, thanks guys for helping for now, but you don’t fool me. Come 2011, you guys will be telling the traders about a certain fire disaster that struck on Ash Wednesday (no pun intended).

And guess who will politically pay (read lose) for this inferno. Current Mayor Al Haji Nasser Ntege Sebagala a.k.a Seeya, the enigmatic man who rode his luck by defying his own party and stood as independent but won due to his ‘Seeya’ tag and promise to empower the ordinary small trader of Kampala. The modestly educated but populist Sebagala (his English is always wide of the mark), coined the word Seeya to mean ‘mate’, ‘chum’, ‘one of us’, that sort of thing. He too, like his predecessor, played the populist card, ate in Owino, and won. The other strong contender Peter Sematimba, whose swanky and sometimes cavalier style is not exactly appealing to the average Owino trader, lost.

But when Seeya got to office he turned against his voters. When he arrived at Park Yard on Wednesday he was harangued at and insulted. He took to his heels. His crime? He reneged on his election promise to empower the small trader. He leased the markets to capitalistic magnates, who then levied exorbitant taxes and have left the traders struggling to get ahead. Traitor! No more votes, the traders told him.

Ends