Mpondwe Lhubiriha Fish Market Reopens After Five-Year Closure
GILBERT
There was joy and jubilation at the Uganda-DRC border in Mpondwe Lhubiriha town council as the Fisheries Protection Unit Commander, Lt. Col. Mercy Tukahirwa, reopened the Mpondwe Lhubiriha fish market after five years, while working in DR-Congo.
This market has been closed for nearly five years since 2020 when it shifted to the DR-Congo side due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of people, both youth and the business community in Mpondwe Lhubiriha town council, were filled with joy and jubilation following the return and reopening of the Mpondwe Lhubiriha fish market.
When the country was battling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 national task force advised that all markets be temporarily closed as a measure to curtail the spread of the virus, leading to the relocation of the Mpondwe Lhubiriha fish market to DRC.
According to Lt. Col. Mercy Tukahirwa, the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) Commander in the country, over one thousand businesswomen dealing in fish at the Mpondwe border lost jobs when the market shifted to DRC, adding that the revenue collection dropped by 60 per cent.
She added that people dealing with fish have been going through a lot of challenges. She advised all Ugandans to sell their fish in Uganda so that they could boost the economy of the country.
Speaking to the town clerk of Mpondwe Lhubiriha town council, Mr Moses Mugisa, the return of the fish market to Uganda from DRC means a lot to the government because the town council had lost over six hundred million annually.
According to the chairperson of the Fish Importers, Exporters, and Transporters Association, Mr Wafula John Mayunga, the fish markets are closing in the country because of some fish traders who don't wish well for their country.
Mr. Wafula added that 90 per cent of fish business people are Ugandans but they had refused to sell their fish in Uganda, adding that in Congo, Ugandans pass through a lot of challenges.
Fish traders thanked His Excellency the President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, for appointing a strong woman, Lt. Col. Mercy Tukahirwa, as FPU commander.
