Two officials of Mubende Municipality have been charged and remanded to prison following investigations into allegations of extorting vendors at Mubende Central Market.
The officials were on Thursday arraigned before the Mubende Chief Magistrate’s Court by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SH-ACU), working jointly with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The accused are Francis Xavier Katumba, the former Chairperson of the Mubende Central Market Allocation Committee and Assistant Town Clerk for Western Division, and Hakim Sentongo, a committee member and Health Officer in the same division.
Court remanded the two officials until 3 February 2026.
According to investigators, the accused allegedly extorted money from vendors during the allocation of stalls and lockups at the newly constructed Mubende Central Market, an exercise that later descended into chaos during the relocation of traders.
Investigations were launched following complaints raised by market vendors during visits to Mubende by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa and Minister of Local Government Rachael Magyezi, who subsequently requested the intervention of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit.
Vendors accused members of the market allocation committee of illegally selling stalls and lockups at prices ranging from shs100,000 to over shs5 million, depending on the location and type of business.
One of the complainants, Moses Bisobolwa, is reported to have paid shs2 million to Katumba to secure a lockup. Investigators allege that the money was received in the presence of Sentongo.
Preliminary findings further indicate that more than 51 vendors may have paid money to the two officials to obtain stalls. However, investigators noted that most transactions were conducted in cash, limiting available documentary evidence.
Authorities are also probing allegations that some vendors were irregularly allocated more than one stall, while others were allocated to public servants, disadvantaging low-income traders who were the intended beneficiaries of the market.
Investigations into the matter are ongoing.
