By Our Online Team

1^st Aug 2011:

July 31st: Owino market on fire: Could it be arson?

The reactions were almost instantaneous!  As soon as it became apparent that the famous Owino market [recently renamed St Balikuddembe market] in downtown Kampala had caught fire for the second time [in just under three years], conspiracy theories cropped up immediately with the majority seemingly pointing the accusing finger firmly at government foul play.

Controversial Kampala Journalist Timothy Kalyegira, a known conspiracy theorist and government critic, led the attack by setting the tone of the agenda on his Twitter page:  “…Kabaka’s coronation anniversary- July 31. Huge crowds welcomed him at Nakasero Market last week. Owino fire overshadows celebrations”, Kalyegira said.

Kalyegira then adds more fuel to the conspiracy fire by quoting what a market trader allegedly told a local television station.  He said, “…a trader at Owino told Record TV that there was no electricity at the market last night. So no excuses about an electrical short circuit”, Kalyegira concludes, effectively ruling out the possibility that the fire could have been ignited by accident.

Like a true Advocate arguing his case before a Judge in court, Kalyegira cites a “precedent” from a previous fire tragedy whose cause has never been conclusively resolved.  “…When Budo Junior School caught fire in 2008, there had been no electricity at the school that night, so no excuses about a power fault”, Kalyegira submits.

In this virtual case where Museveni’s government is on trial in the court of public opinion for suspected arson in Owino, “Defence Counsel” Nuwamanya Emannuel, Ugandan on Twitter, challenged Kalyegira:  “…Tim do you suspect any foul play in owino market Fire?”, Nuwamanya asked.

Kalyegira’s response left no doubt in “the Jury’s mind” that he firmly believed that an arsonist, probably some extremist government agent, was behind the Owino fire.  “…There was no electricity at Owino Market, so it wasn’t an electrical fault.  How can there be no suspicion of foul play?”, Kalyegira charged.  To add weight to his conspiracy theory of possible government foul play, Kalyegira goes for the kill and says:

“…After Ugandan school fires in 2008, Red Pepper newspaper’s printing press also burnt. CCTV cameras caught an army officer leaving the scene.  Knowing how naive Ugandans are, it won’t be long before they start to “call upon” the government to investigate the Owino Market fire.  A woman [is] angrily telling Bukedde FM……[that] when traders went to Owino Market to try and save their property, they were stopped by police”, Kalyegira alleged.

Unlike “wannabe” Advocates Timothy Kalyegira [“prosecuting”] and Emmanuel Nuwamanya [“defending”] Mr David Mpanga, an Advocate who practices law for real in Kampala, introduced a fresh theory which seems to suggest that the Owino and Kisekka market fires may be part of a secret plan to kick market traders out of Kampala’s central business district to give way for investor-led redevelopment projects.

“…We must find a way of including the people of Kampala in the plans for the modernization of the city.  All other ideas are doomed to fail.  We talk of modernization in ways that alienate fellow Ugandans because we want to mimic foreign cities. Kampala is not New York.  At the moment, when we talk of modernizing Kampala we talk of pushing the people of Owino and other markets out of the CBD”, Mpanga said.

Democratic Party [DP] President Mr Norbert Mao also weighed into the debate with a view that echoed the one expressed by David Mpanga.  “…The long suffering traders of Owino need justice. How come someone is always razing the market to the ground?  The rival interests battling for control of the prime land need to be investigated. The government needs to respond with sensitivity. Beating and tear-gassing angry traders is inappropriate”, Mao said on his facebook page.

Mr Angelo Izama, a practicing Journalist with The Daily Monitor newspaper, unsurprisingly provided a more neutral reaction to the Owino fire by pointing to the state of the market as an accident waiting to happen.  “…Beyond the investigation into the fire, Owino has always been a fire-hazard waiting to happen. Time to build a modern market in its place”, Izama said.

All said and done, it is fair to say that all these conspiracy theories may be less about the government’s involvement in arson but more about the public’s lost of trust in Museveni’s ruling NRM government.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.