Outgoing Councillor Blasts Entebbe Municipality Over Crackdown on Container Businesses
ENTEBBE, Uganda – A firestorm is brewing in Entebbe municipality as local authorities enforce an order requiring all businesses operating out of shipping containers to vacate main roads and the municipality at large. Outgoing councillor Ssekawooya Arafat has publicly condemned the move, questioning its legal and economic rationale.
In a Facebook post addressed to the Permanent Secretary of Local Government, Ssekawooya – who serves as outgoing councillor for Division A and a former candidate for Division A chairperson – argued that containers are not inherently problematic when proper research guides their use.
“Containers are not bad if the best research is done about them,” he wrote. “In developed countries, people use them as homes, as business premises, cheap rent areas.”
The councillor called on the local government to revise the directive, demanding transparency about the research that supposedly led to the nationwide overhaul of container-based businesses. “Can we have a look at a research report that has really led to an overhaul of all people’s businesses in the whole country?” he asked.
Ssekawooya further criticized the enforcement approach, urging authorities to first advise business owners on their expectations rather than destroying people’s hard-earned capital. “Why not first advise people on what you want as council than just breaking people’s hard earned capital?” he wrote.
In a pointed challenge, he questioned whether the many countries that permit container use as shown in accompanying images are “stupid,” appealing directly to the Permanent Secretary: “Kindly receive my message if tagged. @PS LOCAL GOVERNMENT.”
The trade order, which targets container establishments along main roads and across Entebbe, has disrupted numerous small businesses that rely on converted shipping containers as affordable shop fronts. Neither the municipality nor the Permanent Secretary has issued an immediate public response to Ssekawooya’s remarks.
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