Women operating under the Bongole Women Friendly Group have appealed to the government and the Ministry of Works and Transport to install speed humps along the Kampala–Masaka Highway near their market, saying the measure would help attract customers and revive the facility.
The women say the request comes three years after the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) constructed a modern market in Bongole Village to improve the livelihoods of women farmers, traders and small business owners.
Although the market was completed in 2023, it has remained largely unused because it is located on a steep section of the highway where vehicles travel at high speed, making it difficult for motorists to stop.
The market was intended to enable traders to sell fresh produce and other goods to travellers using one of Uganda's busiest highways.
Caroline Nabifo, the chairperson of Bongole Women Friendly Market, said the women have been unable to benefit from the project because passing motorists rarely notice the market.
“The market was built for the women of Bongole, but we have failed to use it because vehicles pass here at very high speed. The market is located on a slope, making it difficult for motorists to even notice it, let alone stop and buy something,” Nabifo said.
She added that traders also fear operating at the site because of the risk of road crashes.
“When this market was planned, we focused on the traffic without considering that there is no trading centre nearby. We also live in fear because vehicles can easily lose control and crash into the market. Earlier this year, a vehicle veered off the road and destroyed several stalls. Had traders been operating, lives could have been lost,” she said.
The market includes parking space, toilets and shower facilities intended to encourage motorists and bus passengers to stop and purchase produce, but the facilities remain underutilised.
The women are now calling on the government to install speed humps near the market to slow traffic and improve road safety.
“If speed humps are installed here, motorists will reduce their speed, notice the market and some of them will stop to buy from us. It will also reduce the fear of accidents,” Nabifo said.
They have also appealed to the government to relocate the long-distance bus stopover from Buwama Town to the Bongole market.
“We invested in parking space, toilets and other facilities expecting buses to make stopovers here, but none has ever stopped. We appeal to the government to relocate the bus stopover from Buwama to Bongole so that this market can finally serve its purpose,” the women said.
The KOICA-funded market was established to improve household incomes through agriculture and trade, but the traders say its potential will remain unrealised unless measures are taken to make it accessible and attractive to highway users.
