By Madrine Auma
The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a great deal of uncertainty around the world. COVID-19 had an impact on most people’s social lives and purchasing habits around the world. The coronavirus pandemic altered the routine admission of students to institutions of higher learning.
Uganda Christian University (UCU), through the 24th Guild government, has organized the 2022 advent semester bazaar. This happened inside the university, where they were invited to display and sell their wares.
Some of the products on sell were bags, shoes, phone accessories, ice cream, Stabex gas, and also services like chipper cash and mountain biking.
The merchants dealing in different products and services rated the Uganda Christian University ( UCU ) bazaar as the worst.
When contacted, they complained that sales were insufficient due to heavy rains and a lack of customers.
According to Patrick, the bazaar was held at a bad time because the semester had just begun. Some of the dissatisfied merchants also stated that while they did not profit financially, they did gain market share.
Steven Wegose, an artist and graphic designer, stated that “UCU, as a university, has provided me with a large market base because they promised to buy after the bazaar,” he said.
The Mtn supervisor, Musa Hamanda, compared this advent bazaar to that of other universities and rated it the worst. He said, “According to other bazaars, I think this was the worst bazaar.” He also said that the economy was a problem too and could use a hand.
Due to the bad situation, the guild government extended the merchants’ time, but this was insufficient to increase their sales.
Moses Muziriga, minister of information in the Guild government, stated that even if they were added for a week, the sales were still dependent on the students because they were the ones who were purchasing the goods.
Some students stressed the fact that the semester had just begun and that they were not interested in purchasing new products because they had budgeted for their funds.
“I already spent the majority of his money on hostel supplies,” said Paul Bekalaze, a law student.
Bazaars have always been good, and so the merchants left with the hope that the next one would be fruitful.
