Kampala Traders panic over Chinese Deprivation of Customers

Traders under their Umbrella body Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) have expressed discontent about the increasing taxes imposed on them by government.

Speaking to the media at KACITA offices Kampala, KACITA chairperson Thadeus Musoke Nagenda revealed that this will affect the traders and the business sector in general, adding that it is intended to send businessmen out of the business.

Musoke noted that, as traders they have even protesting the issue of increasing values in the disguise of promoting Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) saying that their concerns is about producing locally quality goods not fighting business.

He however, disclosed that, they have written petitions to ministers of trade, and finance and to other responsible bodies appealing to them to make sure that these petitions attended to with urgency.

Meanwhile Musoke revealed that failure for the government to work on thier issues, they will lay down thier tools as a sign of expressing dissatisfaction after the NAM and G-77+China Summits.

Kacita spokesperson Issa Sekito said the government has not help traders about Chinese who are coming  to us from the countryside are now selling goods at cheaply and most of them do not pay taxes.

Sekito said the Chinese are taking over the shops in the villages and starting to sell retail us suddenly which is leaving Ugandans without customers and the money they can pay in taxes.

He said the Chinese have their own products such as jeans pants made here by the Chinese who bring mattresses and start selling them here and sell them cheaply when a Ugandan imports them and China loses them.

He said if the government does not come out to help the traders, the protesters will order all the traders to close their shops.

On the issue of tax, the officials of the cacita urged the government not to seize the quotas of traders who fail to pay tax but URA to set up a system that will enable these traders to return their quotas first and then pay tax to URA.

Ssekito said the government has reduced the taxes it has sent to traders who are no longer working for URA.

On the issue of NAM Sekito urged the Ugandan government officials to focus on trade and market exploration so that Ugandans can benefit from the conference.

By mugula Dan

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