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UBL, Infectious Disease Institute partner to facilitate safe reopening of bars

By
Our Reporter
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Alvin Mbugua, UBL MD (L) and Tom Kakaire, Head of Strategic Planning & Development at IDI (R) look on as Hon. Amelia Kyambadde rings the bell to launch the Raising The Bar campaign.

Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) has partnered with the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) under the Raising the Bar program which will support bars to re-open safely and rebuild customer confidence.

Raising the Bar is adapted from the Diageo $100 Million Raising the Bar Program that seeks to facilitate Diageo affiliates globally to support their local business partners and boost their capacity to reopen their businesses under the respective national guidelines.

In Uganda, this program is being facilitated under the Uganda Breweries flagship Brand of Bell Lager which will inject a $1 Million fund towards the logistical and physical requirements of the program.

This program has been developed in partnership with the Infectious Disease Institute, which among other things, will be the driver to provide awareness training for bars, recreational facilities and similar establishment personnel in the requisite knowledge, social distancing and enhanced hygiene measures that are important in the prevention of COVID-19 transmission in establishments that carry Uganda Breweries Products.

Speaking at the event to demonstrate preparedness of the Brewery to support the Bar Reopening, UBL Managing Director Alvin Mbugua said that as a business, they applaud and support the government’s preparedness and response efforts to COVID-19 this far.

“Raising the Bar initiative is the Brewery’s effort to work in tandem with the government to support efforts to raise the capacity of bars and enable them to adapt new practices to operate safely.” Mbugua said

In March 2020, due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, Government of Uganda announced the closure of bars among other businesses to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Even as some restrictions have been slowly lifted, the closure of bars and other recreational businesses remains in effect, a thing which has had adverse impact to economic activity resulting in loss of revenue and devastated livelihoods of many Ugandans.

“Bars are an integral part of Uganda’s socio-economic ecosystem. They provide employment both directly and indirectly, contribute significantly to real estate through rental incomes, contribute to the agricultural sector through sourcing of food supplies and Raw Materials and contribute to trade and several auxiliary services.” he said

COVID-19 has adversely impacted the different players within our value chain including farmers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and bartenders. Furthermore, the situation has been aggravated by the continued closure of the key retail outlets (bars) that stock and sell our products. An estimated 1.30million people formerly employed by this sector are now redundant and estimated revenue loss of Shs 2.5 trillion across the value chain is inevitable at the current rate of business operations.

Between March and May 2020, UBL sourced only 1,500 tonnes of barley from farmers out of an initial projection of 3,500 tonnes) and a lot more real and unrealized revenue across our value chain.

“We hope that this initiative shows our leadership as Uganda Breweries to the relevant authorities and demonstrate to Government that we are committed to work together in the fight against this pandemic even as we seek for the re-opening of bars.” Said Alvin

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde said that Government is cognizant of the adverse impact that Bar closing has had on the livelihoods of Ugandans and the impact that it has had on government through missed taxes adding that her ministry was also aware that there might be an increase of intake on illicit alcohol arising from the closure of bars.

“Our number one priority has been the health and safety of Ugandans, and so far, the government is doing a commendable job on that front giving us good optimism that the conversation on bar reopening should start happening featuring the relevant stakeholders,” she said.

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Three security guards arrested over theft of Arua hospital ambulance

By
Our Reporter
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ambulances

Police has arrested three security guards of Arua Referral Hospital in connection with the theft of Hospital Ambulance-UG 6821M.

The arrest of the three, whose names have been withheld, follows a case of motor vehicle theft, reported by the Hospital head of security-Avaga Johnston Norman at Arua Central Police Station.

The three suspects were on duty on the incident night on March 27, 2021. They are currently helping the Police with investigations.

“We appeal to the wider public to share any information that could lead to the recovery of the ambulance,” said Angucia Josephine, the police spokesperson of West Nile region.

The stolen Ambulance is one of the new ambulances that the Government  recently gave Arua Regional Referral hospital to assist in Covid-19 emergencies.

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Media owners urged to fight for journalists’ rights

By
Ronard Shabomwe
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NTV Journalist John Cliff Wamala's head being stitched following an injury he sustained when security officers attacked a group of Journalists covering Bobi Wine petition. PHOTO BY NICHOLAS BAMULANZEKI.

After a violent campaign season in which dozens of journalists were assaulted by security agencies, the Executive Director of Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, Robert Sempala says media owners should be at the forefront of backing journalists when fighting for their rights.

Sempala says media owners have a central loud voice which can be heard by anyone and which reach beyond where journalists cannot. He also argues that media owners should invest in providing protective gears to journalists.

“You do not see the main bosses (media owners) coming to court when journalists sue,” Sempala says. “You only see the colleagues (journalists) come support their colleagues in courts of law, you do not see managers, owners and editors coming to show the solidarity.”

When journalists are arrested or beaten, media owners under the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), should be issuing statements condemning such arrests.

The only statement on NAB website that mentions safety of journalists was published in October 2020, almost a month before the start of campaign season when the association members met security chiefs.

“NAB raised issues of concern to the security chiefs including the safety of the journalists during their line of duty, interruption of the media while doing their work as the fourth estate,” the statement reads.

But NAB Secretary General Joseph Beyanga defends the association, arguing that they have done much lobbying for journalists. He says NAB should not be judged basing on election season. For instance, he argues that during the pandemic, before the election, they lobbied to ensure that journalists are classified as essential workers and also lobbied for release of journalists arrested for defying curfew time.

After the October 2020 meeting with security chiefs, Beyanga says a sub-committee composed of NAB and security agencies members through which the former continued to raise issues affecting journalists. Unknown are the impacts of these meetings in defense of journalists rights.

In an interview with this reporter, Sempala commended the recently founded Uganda Editors Guild, an umbrella body that brings together editors, senior journalists and journalism for the role it played, in defense of the journalists during election season.

The guild condemned arrest of journalists and sued, in attempt to block Media Council’s move to accredit journalists covering campaigns in the middle of campaign season.

Sempala says they have recorded more than 35 clear cases in which security agencies confronted journalists during campaigns, mainly those who were covering National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine.

Other incidents that affected the media, he says include brutality against media team of Bobi Wine such as those who were live broadcasting his rallies. Three Bobi Wine media aides were among his campaign trail members who were arrested on December 30th in Kampala and have been produced in court. They are Richard Kalema, Geofrey Mutalwa and Musa Mulimira. These are among 46 Bobi Wine supporters arrested in Kalangala who have not been given bail.

Incidents involving journalists started with the start of campaign season. For instance, on 3 November 2020, Bobi Wine was nominated, a number of journalists from different media houses following his convoy to the nomination venue were pepper-sprayed by police.

Also on November 3rd, Ronald Kakooza of Vision Group was arrested while covering events at the Forum for Democratic Change headquarters in Najjanankumbi as the party candidate Patrick Amuriat prepared to go for nomination.

“Journalists have operated in a hostile and toxic environment, and endured several cases of wanton mistreatment by police and security agencies,” the Africa Center for Media Excellence (ACME) said its December report on election coverage.

But Dr George Lugalambi, a media researcher says there is nothing else that journalists and media owners could do at the organizational level because the campaign became extremely violent. He says security agencies must protect Ugandans including journalists. “They are the people who were abusing media rights.”

Dr William Tayeebwa of Makerere University Journalism Department says as the campaign season turned more violent, media owners should have provided protective gear for all field personnel as a measure to mitigate the impact of the attacks.

“It is only journalists from big media houses who had protective gear. Those who were brutalized had no gear.”   Given that politics has become like a war zone, Tayeebwa says, the safety of journalists should equally be a top priority for proprietors.

Meanwhile, Derrick Wandera, a reporter with Daily Monitor says that his employers replaced his equipment and mobile phone which were confiscated and damaged by security officers during one of Kyagulanyi’s rallies. But he says that after spending 62 days on the campaign trail, he realized that a lot needs to be done in support of journalists covering hostile situations.

“Employers should make sure that there is job security for reporters especially those working in dangerous environments,” he says. “There should also be medical insurance to even freelance reporters because most of them when they get a challenge that needs medical attention, they are left to suffer and cannot pay their medical bills.”

Moses Waiswa a journalist attached to Busoga One FM was beaten by counter-terrorism police officers while covering Bobi Wine’s campaign trail in Lira.

Waiswa says that despite the injuries he sustained while on duty, his employers did not do much to ensure he gets clear medical treatment. According to Waiswa, his employer gave him a one-off payment of 350,000 Shillings, yet to date; he has spent 3.6 million on treatment. Waiswa said he was directed by doctors to spend 60-days off work for him to be able to recover quickly.

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President Samia reshuffles Tanzania cabinet

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
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Tanzania president Samia Suluhu Hassan has on Wednesday March 31, made a cabinet reshuffle, issuing a warning to her appointees to embrace nothing but work.

The reshuffle which was carefully worked has seen some new faces with the most notable being the nomination of Liberata Mulamula (pictured above)as  Member of Parliament and the foreign minister  replacing Prof Palamagamba Kabudi who now takes over the ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

In the reshuffle Mwigulu Nchemba who was the minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs now becomes the minister of Finance a docket that was left empty yesterday after Dr Mpango was appointed Vice President.

One month after he was appointed Chief Secretary, former CCM General Secretary Bashiru Ally has been replaced by Tanzania’s ambassador to Japan Hussein Yahya Kattanga.

Ummy Mwalimu now becomes the Minister in the President’s office Regional Administration and Local Government replacing Jafo Selemani who now serves the Ministry of State in the Vice President’s Office where Ummy was initially serving.

“It has been a short while since you were sworn in so I did not see the need for a complete overhaul of the ministries,” said the President

President Samia also warned ministers who hardly assign deputy ministers any tasks something that in the long run causes frictions with the ministry.As part of her other instructions, she ordered the newly created ministry of investment under the stewardship of Godfrey Mwambe and his deputy Ole Nasha gets functional as soon as possible.

 

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The tragedy of Bwaise floods, why they have become persistent and what needs to be done

By
Guest Writer
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Ms Ansasira

 

 

Despite the interventions from different stakeholders towards finding an everlasting solution, floods have remained a big threat to both the lives and livelihoods of people within and around Bwaise and Kyebando. Most of Bwaise residents scramble to cross the road by a meticulously makeshift wooden bridges planted over large stinking pools of water, some just walk in dirty flooded water to access their premises. The ram-shackled housing units and businesses around Bwaise always fall prey where they are swept away or covered up.

Roads and bridges are washed away during a heavy downpour making movement a nightmare for students and other slum dwellers. This has also led to drowning of children and the elderly, displacement of households and easy spread of diseases due to poor sanitation since human waste from pit latrines and other waste is always carried around from waste collection areas by storm water. For stance, according to Uganda Red Cross, in 2011 over 700 residents were left homeless as a result of heavy down power that turned into floods in the areas of Bwaise.

However much KCCA has put guidelines to deal with and contain the situation, the citizens have adamantly refused to take up the measures by continuing to dump waste into drainage channels which blocks drainage system and let water flow on the highways, households and businesses.

Maurice Semukemba, who once worked with KCCA argues that the biggest cause of flooding in the area are the clogged channels and that the residents are to blame. Bwaise, which slightly lies above the drainage channel of the Northern bypass, has always been an area prone to flooding. The main drainages are so narrow and at times are overpowered by the heavy run-off waters. Human activities like dumping waste such as plastics and polythene bags into drainages and constructing buildings within water passages among others blocks water movement which triggers backflow of water. There is encroachment on wetlands which are supposed to be catchment areas. Currently, many factories and houses have been built in wetlands despite the existing law, yet the local authorities at times just look on since some developers wield much influence to the big people in government. Since Bwaise is a slum, there are many informal settlement that have no approved building plans. This has caused unplanned buildings and failure to follow building regulation leading to congested settlements leaving no space for storm water drainage hence flooding.

At the Centre for Energy Governance we are convinced that, in order to curb the problem of flooding and its effects on Bwaise, the following measures need to be taken with immediate effect.

  • Drainage channels need to be widened, deepened and provided with small drainages to help ease the flow.
  • The leaders should mobilize and encourage people living in Bwaise in making sure that, they don’t dump waste in places not gazetted for waste disposal and also sensitize them to take part in cleaning all places that block water flow.
  • The local authorities should frequently collect waste, set up public garbage collection points, so that when it rains, there isn’t waste to block water flow.
  • The local authorities should also establish good stormwater management systems, which should focus on preserving critical green spaces hence protecting the wetlands from encroachment and fostering plans that aim to harvest rainwater.
  • New building laws should be in acted forcing developers to leave some portions of their land unpaved so that water can be absorbed without necessarily flowing.
  • Vertical construction (storeyed buildings) and have more space for proper road network, drainage channels and green areas.
  • Unplanned settlements and informal business should be stopped since they encourage encroachment on wetlands and yet do not earn any income to the government.
  • Fines and penalties should be established to punish people who dump rubbish in the drainage channels.
  • Studies should be made for updating of drainage master plan for Bwaise to improve mobility and reduce flooding.
  • Political leaders, government and Bwaise dwellers should each perform their role to ensure the eradication of floods from Bwaise and make it a better place to live with proper drainage systems, housing and waste management to enhance growth and development.

 

Ansasira Mascot, ansasiramascot@gmail.com

Research Fellow, Centre for Energy Governance.

 

 

 

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Ministry of Labour warns NTV, Monitor for laying off staff

By
Simon Kabayo
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Tony Glencross, the Nation Media Group (NMG) MD for Uganda.

 

The Ministry of Labour has written a strong-worded letter to the Managing Director of Nation Media Group, Tony Glencross for illegally laying off staff.

According to highly placed sources at Daily Monitor newspaper and NTV, 41 staff from different departments were laid off summarily this week.

The letter which was received in Namuwongo told the Group to reverse the process but the restructuring process is already finished.

The sources from Namuwongo say the Ministry of Labour says that Nation Media Group did not follow the labour laws. The Group didn’t give a clear procedure how the laid off staff would be paid.

Some of the staff who were affected are planning to go to Court to seek remedy.

Meanwhile Eagle Online has learnt that President Yoweri Museveni has summoned the NMG board chairman Wilfred Kiboro and group Managing Director Stephen Gitagama over a story in which the Daily Monitor that Museveni and his inner circles had secretly been vaccinated against  #Covid-19. Daily Monitor ran the article after it was picked from Wall Street Journal, a US based newspaper.

 

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Ugandan man pleads guilty to $1.8 million #Covid-19 relief fraud in U.S

By
Agencies
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Kanyike

Hassan Kanyike pleaded guilty to perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.8 million (about 6.6 billion Ugandan shillings) in Covid-19 relief guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

According to court documents, Kanyike, 29, of Santa Clarita, admitted that he submitted six fraudulent PPP loan applications and two fraudulent EIDL applications. The applications sought funds to purportedly pay the salaries of employees whom he claimed worked for two of his businesses. Kanyike successfully obtained approximately $1 million through four PPP loans, and another $300,000 through two EIDL loans.

In support of the fraudulent PPP loan applications, Kanyike submitted fake federal tax filings and payroll reports. For example, in one loan application, Kanyike falsely claimed the business had 26 employees and an average monthly payroll of $168,000, and he submitted a fabricated IRS tax form claiming Falcon Motors had paid $2,022,300 in payroll in 2019. But Kanyike admitted during his plea that the company had substantially fewer employees and substantially lower payroll. Kanyike further admitted that he obtained additional Employer Identification Numbers from the IRS in April and May 2020, so that he could apply for multiple loans for the same used-car business. Kanyike then used a substantial portion of the PPP loan proceeds for his own personal benefit.

Kanyike was arrested in December 2020 at Los Angeles International Airport just before he was about to board a flight to Dubai. At the time of his arrest, Kanyike had transferred approximately $762,000 to Uganda, his country of citizenship, from one of the business accounts that had received the loan proceeds, in violation of the terms of the PPP and EIDL program.

Kanyike pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 23 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. As part of his guilty plea, Kanyike is required to pay approximately $1.3 million in restitution.

Homeland Security Investigations and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case.

Assistant Chief William Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard E. Robinson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California’s Major Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The case was previously prosecuted by former Trial Attorney Benjamin Saltzman of the Fraud Section.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 23, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. As part of his guilty plea, Kanyike is required to pay approximately $1.3 million in restitution.

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Emirates expands its network with restart of flights to Orlando

By
Geoffery Serugo
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emirates plane

Emirates has announced it will resume four-weekly services to Orlando from 2nd June 2021, further expanding its US network, and offering customers worldwide more travel choices and enhanced connectivity via Dubai.

With the addition of Orlando, Emirates will be serving over 60 weekly services to and from 11 US destinations including Boston, New York (JFK), Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Newark (in June), reaffirming the airline’s ongoing commitment to this growing market and offering a convenient connections to travellers headed from and towards the Middle East, West Asia, and Africa via Dubai. Emirates customers also have seamless access to other US cities via the airline’s codeshare agreements with Jetblue and Alaskan Airlines.

Flights to/from Orlando will operate four times weekly on Emirates’ two-class Boeing 777-200LR, offering 38 lie-flat seats in Business and 264 ergonomically designed seats in Economy class. Emirates flight EK219 will depart Dubai at 08:55hrs, arriving in Orlando at 16:30hrs while the return flight EK220 will depart Orlando at 21:00 hrs, arriving in Dubai at 19:10hrs the next day.

Emirates has safely and gradually restarted operations across its network. Since it safely resumed tourism activity in July, Dubai remains one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations, especially during the winter season. The city is open for international business and leisure visitors. From sun-soaked beaches and heritage activities to world class hospitality and leisure facilities, Dubai offers a variety of world-class experiences. It was one of the world’s first cities to obtain Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) – which endorses Dubai’s comprehensive and effective measures to ensure guest health and safety.

Flexibility and assurance: Emirates’ booking policies offer customers flexibility and confidence to plan their travel. Customers who purchase an Emirates ticket for travel on or before 30 September 2021, can enjoy generous rebooking terms and options, if they have to change their travel plans. Customers have options to change their travel dates or extend their ticket validity for 2 years.

Travel with confidence: All Emirates customers can travel with confidence and peace of mind with the airline industry’s first, multi-risk travel insurance and COVID-19 cover. This cover is offered by Emirates on all tickets purchased on or from 1 December 2020, at no cost to customers. In addition to COVID-19 medical cover, this latest offer from Emirates also has provisions for personal accidents during travel, winter sports cover, loss of personal belongings, and trip disruptions due to unexpected air space closure, travel recommendations or advisories, similar to other multi-risk travel insurance products. Some limitations and exclusions apply.

Health and safety: Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes to all customers. For more information on these measures and the services available on each flight.

Customers are encouraged to check the latest government travel restrictions in their country of origin and ensure they meet the travel requirements of their final destination.

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Stanbic Uganda announces 2020 financial results, records Shs242Bn in profits

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Anne Juuko, the Chief Executive for Stanbic Bank Uganda

Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) to which Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited (SBU) is a subsidiary, published its 2020 full year results, with profit after tax of UGX 242 Billion.

Andrew Mashanda, Chief Executive of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Ltd said, “2020 was quite a challenging year given the impact of the pandemic across the globe. Despite the tough period, Stanbic Uganda Holdings has demonstrated resilience and delivered a commendable performance.

Customer deposits grow year on year from UGX 4.7 trillion to UGX 5.4 trillion, which further supported new credit to key sectors in much need of support especially during the peak of the pandemic. Loans and advances increased by 27% year on year from UGX 2.8 trillion to UGX 3.6 trillion as more clients acquired loans to sustain their businesses.

In addition to the performance updates, Mr. Mashanda provided a progress update on the holding company’s key initiatives and achievements in 2020.

“In 2018, given the emergence of non-traditional competitors in financial services, a strategic decision was taken to diversify revenue streams from the banking business, essentially creating new pools of revenue for the franchise and this led to the creation of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited. The holding company is strategically positioned to build and leverage on the strength of the banking brand and transport this to other opportunities in other ecosystems that are beyond banking. This is the first phase of our strategy of transforming the franchise here in Uganda into the leading digital platform services organization, which is now well on course,” Mr. Mashanda said.

“The anchor subsidiary is Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited. We have now established Stanbic Properties Uganda Limited, a real estate business, Stanbic Business Incubator Limited, FlyHub Uganda Limited, a technology business which is the bedrock of our digital platform services organisation, and SBG Securities Limited, which is a stockbroking and asset management business. The latter is still going through the process of licensing and is expected to commence business soon,” He said.

Looking ahead, Mashanda said SUHL is appropriately positioned to enhance its value offerings, meet the needs of clients and increase value for stakeholders.

Speaking at the press conference, Anne Juuko, the Chief Executive for Stanbic Bank Uganda said, “It was an incredibly difficult year for the entire economy, but Stanbic has shown that it remains a strong and well capitalised bank committed to contributing to economic growth and transformation.”

To complement government measures to offer relief to customers amidst the pandemic, Stanbic Bank consistently lowered the prime lending rate in tandem with the Central Bank Rate (CBR), from 18% to 16%. This saved customer’s interest payments totalling UGX 26 billion.

Juuko said, “Our aim is to ensure our customers can benefit from more affordable lending rates.  We also offered credit relief programmes to our customers in response Covid–19 challenges with over UGX 800 billion worth of loans were restructured in 2020.”

In reference to the Bank’s responsibility to the communities in which it operates, Juuko said, “We increased our support to the community and invested over UGX 3.9 billion through our CSI programmes.  We made donations to frontline health works in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, contributed food and supplies to local communities where we operate and continued to provide support in the areas of education, environment and maternal health.”

Looking ahead, as Uganda’s Oil and Gas sector is set to achieve the Final Investment Decision soon, Stanbic will play an instrumental role in the development of the sector.

Juuko said, “The emergence of oil and gas will create vast opportunities for the local economy and our role as a Bank is to provide financial solutions to clients across the entire value chain especially for local companies looking to participate in the sector.”

Juuko emphasized, “Stanbic remains committed to its purpose “Uganda is our home and we drive her growth” by contributing to economic growth and transformation.  We shall continue to deliver the right solutions for our clients, as we conduct our business in a responsible and sustainable manner to deliver shared prosperity for all our stakeholders.

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DP to meet parliamentary committee on Human Rights

By
Our Reporter
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Okoler Opio Lo Amanu, the DP Spokesperson.

The President General of Democratic Party-DP in the company of the Secretary General and Legal advisor will appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights to give account of the violation of fundamental human rights that occurred pre, during and post 2021 general election.

“In the same spirit, Democratic Party continues to condemn with utmost contempt the blatant violation of Human Rights which has clearly manifested among those that have been dumped from the dungeons of terror, call them torture chambers,” said Okoler Opio Lo Amanu, the DP Spokesperson.

“At least from the reports we have received, there is fear that has been deliberately created by the abductors into the victims that narrating their ordeals would actually cause their re-arrest, this has made them captives of their past, some have been told never to appear before cameras, others have been told to lie before camera that they were treated well while in detention centres the whereabouts of which they cannot tell.”

The Democratic Party also condemned the manner in which government is imposing taxes on Ugandans, the most recent one being the annual car licence tax that is proposed to car owners. The said tax existed in past years and was removed and attached to fuel so whoever that bought fuel paid this tax, this subsequently caused the fuel prices to shoot high.

“We have all reasons to believe that the tax in question has been brought in bad faith, therefore it should be fought by all right thinking members of society. Unless the government assures the country that the prices of fuel will reduce on passing the proposed tax in question, short of that this will amount to double taxation which is unacceptable and indeed against the principles of taxation,” Opio said.

“There are voices being heard from those that don’t own vehicles, they think it is not a matter concerning them, what they forget is that as long as one hopes to travel by passenger service vehicle then this tax will descend on you through high transport fares so it is an evil that must be fought by all whether a peasant in my village of Awokei B in Pallisa who is without a car or an elite in Naguru who owns a number of vehicles. This law actually also seeks to annually tax engineering plants, meaning whoever that operates machines at his workshop will definitely be affected.”

“That said, we do call upon all Ugandans to approach their members of Parliament and dissuade them from passing the said bill into law which seeks to criminalize owning a car without paying the annual licence tax.”

Currently out of 45 million Ugandans only 1.5 million Ugandans pay tax inclusive of the tax defaulters this is because the sector that supports the biggest portion of the population has been ignored, therefore DP strongly believe that the government should deliberately invest a substantial amount of money in Agriculture for encouraging commercial farming such that the 80 per cent is given capacity to contribute in a substantial manner to the Country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Conclusively on this matter, it’s important to note that the citizens must enjoy the value that comes from taxes, in that case it will make more sense to the taxpayer. Now, driving on Uganda roads is risky, the nature of our roads is so appalling. I think government should first show value for money by constructing the roads before imposing a double taxation on her citizenry.”

The Democratic Party in a special way also appreciated the contribution of a team of brave health workers as led by Dr. Epodoi from Soroti Regional Referral Hospital. “We thank you for saving a life, you have lived by the hippocratic oath that you took to save lives.”

“Lastly, we shall not tire reminding this government that salaries of our health workers should not only be increased but also advanced to them in time so that they encounter no encumbrances psychological or otherwise while executing their duties.”

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