Traders operating shops on the massive Ham Shopping grounds in down town Kampala were this afternoon beaten up by bouncers working with Local Defence Unit forces and Police as they protested the closure of their shops for non-payment of rent during the lock down period.
Majid Bukenya, one of the tenants has told The Sunrise that, after having been allowed to operate for one week, the Landlord. Hammis Kiggundu, has today slummed shut all the front facing shops demanding that traders pay rent for half of the lockdown period (one and a half months) they didn’t work, as well as rent for July.
Bukenya describes the landlord’s decision as heartless because they’ve not been working for three months and therefore have no money to pay rent now.
“We used to pay rent on every 5th day for the month ahead. But for the landlord to ask that we pay for the period we didn’t work, is unacceptable,” says Bukenya.
Bukenya adds that the bouncers and the Police assaulted the protesting tenants as well as the journalists who were covering the protest.
