Kalerwe market rocked by a wave of gunfire and teargas

Kalerwe market along Gayaza road was today morning rocked by a wave of gunfire and teargas when vendors sized up with police and the army to protest the shooting dead of their colleague. 

According to several vendors who spent the night in the market as they waited to receive produce and other merchandise, a man only identified as Rasta Kakooza, a porter was shot dead on Saturday morning under unclear circumstances in what seemed to be a security operation that saw several other people arrested.

“We saw police officers near Modern market arresting some people. After some minutes we heard bullets. It was around 1.00 a.m,” a trader who preferred anonymity recollected. 

Sauda Namulinda, a vendor, says that by morning the body of the deceased was still at the scene and when they called police to collect it, no response was given up to around 8.30 a.m. Namulinda adds that with the anger of not knowing why their colleague had been shot dead, vendors lifted the body and placed it in the middle of the road to attract the attention of the police.

The vendors followed with a protest leading to the blockage of traffic on the Northern bypass. The police and army were later deployed to arrest the situation. Eric Matovu, a hawker operating along the Northern bypass road, narrates that officers arrived and started shooting bullets and teargas at innocent travellers on the road and vendors in several markets at Kalerwe leading to a stampede.

Matovu adds that the situation remained tense for about 30 minutes as motorists got stuck and vendors running in all directions to protect their lives. He, however, blamed police for the situation, noting that if they had responded earlier to the vendors’ call to remove the body, the protest would have been avoided.

Said Waiswa, chairperson of Freedom market at Kalerwe says the morning stint affected business as many traders lost produce during the stampede. He notes that he was also surprised when police directly fired teargas into markets full of innocent people including children and women. Waiswa further notes that police still owe vendors and the community of Kalerwe an explanation on how and why Kakooza was shot.

“A person cannot just die without an explanation. Extrajudicial killings are rampant these days. Let’s say he was a criminal; they still need to tell us why the young man was shot.”