Behind clashes in Lira

Asians in petty trade

There is also concern about the intrusion of Asians into the hawking business that should be ordinarily done by locals. They are reportedly vending sodas, other items and doing business on bicycles which locals in Lira feel should be left for them.

Amelia Kyambadde, Minister for Trade and Industry, visited Lira last year to address the issue but no resolution was reached. Odur says the Lira community needs to sit down with government to agree on what foreign investors can and cannot do as they do business.

Police spokesperson EmilianKayima says political actors are culpable for the skirmishes in Lira for behaving like mobs.

“If there is any case that was mismanaged, let us identify it but not jump to conclusions,” he says, “Let there be some level of responsibility. If there were cases which were mismanaged, who are the people that were involved?”

Kayima says the police will deal with the individual officers who were involved in the cases if they are found.

In the last few weeks, there have been reports of gangs attacking Chinese businesses and there are plans by the government to have the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) protect the business premises of Chinese.