Markets & trade order
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Where the 2026 trade-order enforcement, the court freeze and the relocation plans stand — dated and neutral.
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Loading Markets & trade order…
Where the 2026 trade-order enforcement, the court freeze and the relocation plans stand — dated and neutral.
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Where Jinja's 2026 displacement of traders stands — the street-vending trade order, the court freeze on the taxi-park kiosks, and the separate redevelopment eviction at the Source of the Nile. What is enforced, what a court has frozen, and what is still undecided. Both kiosk owners and formal traders need the same facts, so this page takes no side. It was last reviewed on 14 June 2026 from public press reports; these matters move quickly — check with the High Court in Jinja or the city council for the latest before acting.
Enforced since mid-March 2026; officials said removals outside the taxi park would continue (Plus News, 17 March 2026).
City authorities ordered vendors and kiosk operators to leave road reserves and other ungazetted areas by mid-March 2026, in a directive signed by the city's Nathan Kitakule. Demolitions began on 16 March 2026, including kiosks along Kyabazinga Lane in Walukuba.
Trading in an ungazetted space can be enforced against at any time. Formal market traders had petitioned for the clearance, saying street vendors undercut stall-rent payers; many evicted vendors — some still repaying loans on destroyed kiosks — say they were given no workable alternative. Both positions are documented in the press.
High Court halt in force from 17 March 2026, reported to run to 7 May 2026 — we could not verify the position after that date (reviewed 14 June 2026).
Kiosk operators at the central Taxi Park — more than 200, through their association JIKOOPA — petitioned the High Court in Jinja, which issued a restraining order halting their eviction (Plus News, 17 March 2026). The Daily Monitor reported the freeze covering more than 800 kiosk owners at the Taxi Park and Bus Park, to 7 May 2026.
The operators argue they hold operating agreements with the city and should be part of the park's redevelopment; the city classes the kiosks as being on space needed for that redevelopment. What the court decided after 7 May 2026 has not appeared in press we can read — ask at the court or the council.
Allocation running through public barazas announced 1 May 2026 (Plus News).
The council points displaced traders to designated trading spaces in markets in Jinja's Southern and Northern divisions. The Jinja City Development Forum announced public barazas — open meetings where traders get details of available spaces and resettlement options (1 May 2026).
No public list of gazetted spaces is published online, so allocation questions go to the city council: +256 703 515 186, info@jinjacity.go.ug. Traders' experiences differ: some in the Northern Division relocated voluntarily after dialogue; others say they were evicted with no alternative offered and merchandise confiscated.
Final vacate notice issued 1 April 2026 (Pulse Uganda, 4 April 2026); no confirmed clearance, relocation or compensation detail published as of 14 June 2026.
This is a separate matter from the street-vending trade order: a redevelopment of one tourism site, not a city-wide enforcement. On 1 April 2026 the city's Town Clerk, Godfrey Kisekka, issued what the city called a final reminder for everyone operating at the Source of the Nile — craft stalls, restaurants and tour operators, many there for years — to vacate, clearing the way for a major redevelopment of the site into what the city describes as a world-class tourism landmark.
Traders have raised the same two questions each time it has come up — where they are meant to move to, and whether there is compensation — and we have not seen those answered in public. If you trade there, ask the city council about relocation space and timelines before the works start.
Proposed in December 2023, publicly opposed, and unresolved — no confirmed decision as of 14 June 2026.
A December 2023 plan proposed splitting the central taxi park into two new sites: Mailo Mbili for Iganga-highway traffic and Amber Court for Kampala-highway traffic. Taxi operators, boda boda riders and Central Market traders all opposed it publicly — the market's customers are mostly arriving passengers. In March 2026 the city referenced moving the taxi park and Ambercourt market to Bugembe.
The kiosk court case covers the same ground, and no relocation date or decision has been published.
December 2023
Two-park relocation plan proposed
Mailo Mbili and Amber Court floated to decongest the centre; operators and traders objected.
Mid-March 2026
Vacate deadline and first demolitions
A city directive ordered vendors out of ungazetted spaces; demolitions began 16 March, including Kyabazinga Lane in Walukuba.
17 March 2026
High Court halts taxi-park kiosk demolitions
Restraining order after the JIKOOPA petition; enforcement outside the park continued.
1 April 2026
Final notice to vacate the Source of the Nile
The city told craft, restaurant and tour operators at the Source of the Nile to leave, ahead of a redevelopment of the site. No relocation or compensation detail was published with it.
1 May 2026
Public barazas announced
Trader–council meetings on resettlement options and available trading spaces.
7 May 2026
Reported end date of the court freeze
What the court ordered next has not appeared in press we can read. Check with the court or the council.
December 2023
Two-park relocation plan proposed
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