By Two officials of Mubende Municipality have been charged and remanded by the court following investigations into allegations of extorting money from vendors during the allocation of stalls at Mubende Central Market.
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The accused were on Thursday arraigned before the Mubende Chief Magistrate’s Court by the State following joint investigations by the Anti-Corruption Unit, the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
They are Katumba Francis Xavier, the former chairperson of the Mubende Central Market Allocation Committee and Assistant Town Clerk for the Western Division, Mubende Municipality, and Hakim Sentongo, a committee member and Health Officer in the Western Division. Both were charged with gross extortion and remanded until February 3, 2026.
According to investigators, the alleged extortion contributed to the disorder that characterised the relocation of vendors to the new Mubende Central Market. The probe was initiated following a public outcry by vendors during visits to Mubende by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the Minister of Local Government, who subsequently requested the intervention of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit.
Vendors accused members of the Market Allocation Committee of selling lockups and stalls at prices ranging from Shs100,000 to more than Shs5 million, depending on the nature of the business and the location of the stall.
The court heard that one of the complainants, Moses Bisobolwa, allegedly paid Shs2 million to Katumba to secure a lockup, with the transaction reportedly conducted in the presence of Hakim Sentongo.
Preliminary investigations indicate that more than 51 vendors may have paid money to the two officials in order to secure stalls, although investigators noted that most payments were made in cash, leaving limited documentary evidence.
Authorities are also investigating allegations that some vendors were irregularly allocated more than one stall, while others were given to public servants, disadvantaging low-income vendors who were the intended beneficiaries of the market.
Investigations into the matter are ongoing.
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