What you need to know:
Smoked fish traders in Soroti are demanding protection from enforcement teams.
Women selling smoked fish in Soroti City on Wednesday protested against the alleged assault of traders and confiscation of their merchandise and money by soldiers during an enforcement operation.
The traders marched to Soroti City Council headquarters at about 10am, seeking intervention from city authorities, saying the losses had left them struggling to repay loans used to finance their businesses and support their families.
Several traders said they depended on daily sales of smoked fish for their livelihoods, with some relying on loans that require daily repayments.
Beatrice Elilu, one of the affected traders, said she had invested Shs1 million in fish and was struggling to determine how she would repay the loan following the alleged confiscation of her merchandise.
In distress over the loss, Ms Elilu expressed despair about her financial situation.
“Where will I go? Where will I find the money to pay back the loan? Let any trailer come and knock me down so that I rest from this,” she said.
Another trader, Jane Alupo, accused a soldier of hitting her on the back with a gun during the operation.
“I was beaten with a gun on my back but all this is because I am trying to survive with my seven children,” Ms Alupo said.
She said she was a single mother struggling to provide for her children, adding that selling smoked fish was one of her main sources of income.
The traders said many of them were single mothers responsible for feeding, educating and providing other necessities for their children. They asked city authorities to allocate them a designated trading area where they could operate without fear of harassment.
The officer in charge of operations at Soroti Central Police Station, Francis Mukasa Katerega, described the incident as unfortunate and apologised to the affected traders.
“It is unfortunate if some money was taken and maybe was not done in the right way. Let us first recover the fish,” Mr Mukasa said.
He urged traders who alleged that their money had been taken to identify the suspected perpetrators and report the matter to police for investigation.
Mr Mukasa cautioned against making allegations without identifying those involved, saying formal complaints would help establish what happened.
He said trade-order enforcement applied across the city and that authorities would communicate through radio stations as they worked towards identifying a designated trading area for the vendors.
He urged the women to remain calm as efforts were made to recover their fish.
Soroti City Deputy Mayor Hellen Amongin also appealed to the traders to remain calm as authorities sought a solution to their concerns.
Ms Amongin urged the women to engage city authorities rather than put themselves at risk out of frustration.
She specifically cautioned Ms Elilu against walking into the path of moving vehicles, saying such actions would not resolve the dispute.
The traders maintained that they needed a designated trading area where they could sell their fish peacefully and earn a living without repeated clashes with enforcement teams.