Raise Taxes On Mivumba - Museveni

By Grace Matsiko in KyankwanziPRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has proposed higher taxes on imported mivumba (second-hand clothes and shoes) to protect local industries.Opening a three-day Cabinet retreat at the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi in Kiboga district, Museveni attacked the finance ministry and the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) for frustrating foreign investment in the country.“About protecting the local market, our business people should be protected. We want to put taxes on second-hand clothes. This is the time. We have just won an election. If we introduce taxes early, by the time of the next elections, our critics would have given up,” Museveni said. He said although Uganda produces cotton, Ugandans, including VIPs, wear emikuhurirano (property left by the dead).Museveni who dressed casually and looked relaxed, arrived at the venue in a military helicopter. He was received by the Vice-President, Dr. Speciosa Kazibwe, and the public service minister Henry Muganwa Kajura. The theme of the retreat is “The yet unfulfilled vision of NRM.”Museveni proposed to the Cabinet to lower corporation taxes on raw materials as an incentive to foreign investment in the country. “The other day the US delegation visited a young coffee factory. They informed me that our government has been taxing packaging materials 48%. I did not know that information. This is completely disorientation. I thought I had won battles on raw materials but these people keep bringing them,” Museveni added. He said, “You talk and talk. May be they are not convinced or they are saboteurs.” He added, “This is insubordination. If you are not convinced ask.” The President asked the Cabinet to initiate laws that can give him powers to intervene on behalf of investors where the Investment Authority has failed.“I want something like this. If it is an investment project, it must be ready in 30 days. The Investment Authority must implement. If it can’t the President must do it.“If somebody can’t do his work, the senior one must do it,” Museveni said, adding that long delays to license investment was the cause of corruption. He said for infrastructure projects, like electricity generation, the process must be within a year.Museveni called for the overhaul of Uganda’s foreign embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if the country is to find market for its products. He said it was useless to pump money to run the missions when they lack marketing tools.Museveni announced without disclosing the names that he has appointed Head of Public Service and the Deputy. But sources said the deputy Head of Public Service, Mr. Mitala and the Principal Private Secretary to the President, Hilda Tusubira, are now head and deputy head of Public Service respectively.Museveni in wide-ranging proposals also called for scrapping of government departments like the commissions, reduction of local governments and Parliament. He said he has held discussions with an American satellite-broadcasting firm, which can help secondary school students study at homes using kerosene-powered radio sets.Ends