Uganda traders protest soaring inflation

Traders in parts of Uganda on Wednesday halt their business transactions to protest against a weakened currency and runaway inflation, a report says.

The protest was said to be the latest in a series of economic protests in the east African country this year.

Unfriendly business environment

The traders expressed that they never had plan for any demonstrations in the country, which was plunged into chaos by protest marches over rising food and fuel prices in April.

"We have had to strike because the government has not listened to us when we tell them how hard it is for us to do business," spokesman for the Kampala City Traders Association, Issa Sekito, told reporters.

"The shilling is too weak against the dollar and, while there are global factors, there are internal ones, too. Traders cannot work for charity anymore," he added.

Contravening exchange rate

Sekito also said Chinese businessmen were draining the market of dollars, and that his association wanted the government to fix the exchange rate for three months.

Traders said that Chinese businessmen own several large shops and restaurants in central Kampala and their numbers were growing.

"The Chinese traders are flushing the dollars out of the market in contravention to existing laws," Sekito said.

Worsened state

"It is hard, hard to live now because things are too expensive. But I don't blame the shopkeepers, they are suffering, too. I blame the government," said Linda Ssempijja, a housekeeper speaking on a shuttered street.

The immediate impact of the traders' strike was a rise in the price of staples like sugar and salt in Kampala.

In a sign of spreading discontent against the government, some traders blamed President Yoweri Museveni for the situation, but the leader, in power since 1986, has said drought was the cause of high food costs and soaring world oil prices.

"Nobody has money except one family in this country that has money and that's Museveni's family. I can't afford to import stock anymore and people can't afford to buy it either,” a trader, Motovu Felix said.

Security situation

In central Kampala and surrounding markets, as well as in the town of Masaka in southwest Uganda, the majority of shops and restaurants were closed and the streets were quieter than usual as the protest kicked off.

Armed riot and military police patrolled the streets in small groups and trucks containing tear gas and stood guard on street corners considered protest flashpoints in the past.

During the price protests in April, nine unarmed people were shot dead by security forces, according to Human Rights Watch.

Sekito said the protest would last two days.

BBC/Shakira/Williams