Kampala (dpa) – Ugandan businessmen on Friday defied President Yoweri Museveni's demand that they end an ongoing strike and kept stores shut for a third straight day. The traders called for the strike over rising bank interest rates, which have been hiked up from under 20 percent several months ago to 30 percent. The Kampala traders association (KACITA) said its officials had met with the head of state on Thursday, but that he had failed to address their key demands. The Ugandan government says that it cannot force the banks to reduce the interest rates. Central bank officials have said that inflation soared in 2011, causing the lending rates to rise too. The bank hopes inflation will drop to single-digits this year. A presidential spokesman, Joseph Tamale Mirundi, told Impact Fm radio that Museveni blames the traders for taking loans they could not service, but also said banks were being “arrogant and unapproachable.” According to Mirundi, the president told the traders they would be able to re-negotiate their loans and restructure the terms. “He told the trader never to close the shops again,” Mirundi said. KACITA deputy spokesperson Mubarak Ntale told dpa that the meeting with the president did not lead to any agreements and that they would defy Museveni's order. “We did not reach a compromise on the high interest rates. So the shops remain closed,” Ntale said, adding that the traders remained open to convening with the president again. Museveni has been in power since 1986 and was re-elected in early 2011 for another term, in elections that the opposition said were rigged. Since then, he has been facing a series of industrial actions. In demonstrations called by the opposition against the high cost of living in April and May, more than 20 people died and scores were injured. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/gfOdH Tags: Strike, Traders, Uganda Section: Business, East Africa
