East African Business Week

KAMPALA, UGANDA-As the "walk to work" demos continued in areas in and around Kampala city and its suburbs, many businesses were paralysed as a result.
Players in the tourism sector first expressed their loss concerns when it emerged that the Mondays and Thursdays demos had scared international tourists.
Many tour operators, hotels and airlines suffered cancellations from tourists. It also led to redundancy of the Gorilla tracking permits, as they had been booked earlier. It takes two years to book a Gorilla permit in Uganda.
Traders under the Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) also voiced their concerns about the riots and how they crippled their businesses.
The market vendors condemned the demos, as they mentioned that at times demonstrators rob their goods while moving along the streets. Others completely lock their stalls.
Now, fuel dealers are the latest to join the trail, after they registered low sales during the riots. Though the cost of fuel had hit its peak at Ugshs3600 ($1.44) for petrol, Ugshs3500 ($1.4) diesel and Ugshs2897 ($1.16) for Kerosene, most of this fuel was not sold during the riots.
However, the transportation sectors especially the Taxi and Boda Boda business gained as they increased charges on all roads.
"We usually serve 20 vehicles every five to 10 minutes. During the riots very few were coming," said a Kampala pump attendant who preferred anonymity.
Another senior manager with one of the leading fuel dealing companies who also preferred anonymity explained that a sales percentage drop of 5 to 10% was realised as a result of the demos.   
Such losses, if they continue, imply that in the long run, there could be job loss as a result of the companies failing to pay their workers, reduced government tax as the tax base will continue to narrow and paralyzing the country's economy.
Walk to work demonstrations that started in March this year, have lasted close to three months, bringing many businesses in the city to a temporary halt.