M7 grills striking traders on turning Uganda into a supermarket for other countries

Kampala traders have agreed to reopen their businesses after their leadership meeting with President Museveni Friday evening at State House Entebbe.

The meeting followed a strike by traders who closed their businesses, expressing their discontent against Uganda Revenue Authority (URA)’s implementation of the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS).

The traders issues included: 1. The tax on textiles calculated based on kilograms which they say is high. 2. Manufacturers who engage in wholesale and retail leave no room for traders to do business, resulting in unfair trade. 3. The Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS) which they claim is not suitable for most of them and when they don’t use it they are penalized. 4. The threshold for Value Added Tax (VAT), which is currently an annual turnover of Shs 150m, should be increased.

After carefully listening to them, he however, gave them food for thought.

“Traders should answer the question: Do we want to build our country Uganda or other countries by trading in goods produced by them? Must we continue to cause a hemorrhage of the little that we have made through agriculture and other sectors by sending our money outside? Uganda should not be a supermarket for other countries,” he opined.

During the meeting, the President informed the traders that he will meet the technocrats from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and URA on the 24th, April 2024 for wider consultations.

According to a statement from State House, the President also noted that he will then meet with all the traders on 7th May 2024 at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds.

President Museveni further directed that “all penalties should be suspended by the URA for the meantime to give room for wider consultations.”

The leaders of the traders agreed to reopen their businesses as they continue to consult further with the government.

The traders commenced their strike, which has seen the majority of shops downtown, closed since 08 April 2024.

The delegation of 61 leaders was led by Mr. John Kabanda, the leader of the Federation of Uganda’s Traders Associations (FUTA) and Dr. Thaddeus Musoke Agenda, the leader of Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA).

The meeting was also attended by Mr. Issa Ssekito, the Spokesperson of KACITA.