KAMPALA-UGANDA/NEWSDAY; Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and his executive committee have filed a case at the high court seeking orders to remove the deployment of military officers from the City.
The military earlier on through its first division spokesperson scoffed at calls to leave the city vowing that they will continue to occupy city streets and intensify day and night patrols.
But Lukwago insists soldiers must vacate the city Street ‘’and stop the brutality of boda boda cyclists and street vendors’’.
Addressing reporters on Monday morning, Lukwago stated that the current legal regime, vests the mandate of organizing and regulating trade order in the City in KCCA.
‘’The unilateral decisions of the Minister for Kampala and RCC to evict vendors and Boda Boda without options of licensing is illegal, ultra vires , irrational and unreasonable, stressing that the operations are having little to do with trade order rather a security operation sanctioned by the National security council,’’ Lukwago said.
In recent months, the city has seen a surge of military presence after operations to clean the city of street vendors were launched.
Lukwago warned that the decree by the Minister and RCC to reduce the numbers of Boda Boda riders to 7,000 out of 200,000 will sow chaos.
Lukwago filed a suit looking for orders of Certiorari, Prohibition, Mandamus and an injunction against the actions of the Minister for Kampala and RCC.
In his press conference, Lukwago took a swipe at his opponents that have criticized him of engaging in cheap politics by throwing his support behind the hawkers and bodabodas. He argued he has strived to put in place several plans and ordinances to achieve the same.
His deputy Nyanjura Doreen and secretaries including Olive Namazzi and John Mary Sebuufu – all applicants in the matter were present in the press conference.