Aisha Namuleme (not real names) 48, stares at passers-by at her shop at Nabugabo Shauri-yako opposite the recently cleared ground that was previously known as the New Taxi Park in Kampala.It is the end of the month and she has not yet realised money for her monthly shop rent.She is a tenant in one of the mushrooming arcades in the city.She ponders over the next option with no viable alternative but faithfully confers to her mind that everything will be fine.She has got no rent as yet. Her customer base has dwindled due to the proliferation of shops selling cheaper products around her business area, run by former dealers from Dubai.She says there is no reason to import goods from Dubai and India since dealers that she used to buy goods from have now shifted base to downtown Kampala – her locality.“They have followed us up to our shops, setting up retail outlets here, all over the country. They charge almost the same prices that we used to be charged in Dubai, kicking most of us out of business,” she says.Aisha is not alone; many traders in town are finding themselves in the same problem. They have been hit by an influx of entrepreneurs in the country that previously operated shops in Dubai, China and India that have set up shops giving customers the same price quotations that were previously given to Ugandan businessmen to import motor spare parts and electronics in the country.Her only hope is a feeling that her predicament may change after downtown traders have mobilized to check the influx of foreign investors in the country without proper work permits.According to Christopher Mugenyi, another trader at Nabugabo, the traders met recently, forming up business committees that will, in liaison with The Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, check whether foreign-owned businesses that carry out retail trade in Kampala and its outskirts have the right work permits to allow them carry out retail businesses.We met, formed up 14 business committees in Kampala and its outskirts to monitor and tip the Ministry of Trade and Industry about the operation of these investors without work permits, said Mugenyi, also the chairman of the business committees.He says the operations of the business committees will be expanded to cover other parts of the country.We are going to spread out to other parts of the country to get a grip of these investors that have now shifted to upcountry towns after failing to explain their existence in Kampala, said Mugenyi.Mugenyis remarks come on the heels of numerous deliberations by traders in Kampala to find an everlasting solution to a vicious cycle that has kicked many local businessmen out of business due to the cutthroat competition unleashed by foreign traders without proper work permits to operate retail businesses.We met with the Minister for Trade and Industry, Amelia Kyambadde, and she was surprised with what was going on in the retail business sector. She physically confronted some fake investors in Kikuubo but was surprised to find out that they did not have the right paper work to operate retail shops in the city, he said.We are in a sinking boat. The fake investors have now started retailing shoes, motor vehicle spare parts and electronic gadgets, kicking most of us out of the business, he added.She had advised that her ministry would shift them shift them to the industrial area but that idea is not feasible since it will create “China towns”, taking away most of their customers in search of cheaper prices, he said.KACITA spokesman, Issa Sekitto recently confirmed the development but added that the traders in the city had earlier engaged the Minister for Trade and Industry.The minister asked them to give her office one month in which foreign businessmen with fake work permits would be shifted to the industrial area, said Sekitto.Sekitto further revealed that the city traders’ initiative would have full KACITA backing since his body is at times constrained by resources to effectively carry out directives to alleviate the plight of traders in the city.We at times lack the resources to effectively represent the interests of the traders in the city, said Sekitto in an interview. A survey carried out by this reporter found out that numerous business communities in Kampala are well aware of these investors without proper work permits and their cutthroat competition tendencies driving many out of business but traders had previously no avenue to air out their predicament.Mugenyi reiterates that a previous survey carried out by the business community in Kampala in liaison with the department of immigration and the Ministry of Trade and Industry found out that there were few foreign investors licensed to carry out retail businesses in the city.We want Chinese investors to be followed up with their work permits. We do not see any manufacturing plants set up by these investors. Are they doing what they were registered to do in the country? asked an irate Mugenyi.A work permit is a temporary residence permit given to any immigrant worker that desires to operate business in any country. They are handled by the department of immigration and the Ministry of Internal affairs.According to the department of immigration website, Uganda has a vast reserve of un-skilled and semi-skilled labour. Generally, a prospective immigrant to Uganda should not pursue an occupation for which there are already sufficient people available to meet the countrys needs in particular.Unskilled and semi-skilled workers will not usually be accepted as immigrant workers in Uganda, it says.It however says immigrants who are in position to contribute to the broadening of the countrys economic base are welcome.
