Abolition of road licence excites many, as the hiked fuel cost raise concerns
Jun 15, 2007
Arua town was yesterday thrown into jubilations after the Minister of Finance, Ezra Suruma, announced the abolition of road licence.
By Frank Mugabi
Arua town was yesterday thrown into jubilations after the Minister of Finance, Ezra Suruma, announced the abolition of road licence.
Some drivers around the main taxi park and special hire stages hooted in excitement as the minister pronounced the abolition during the budget reading at Parliament.
Suruma said the tax was dogged by rampant forgery of licence stickers and required a lot of resources to ensure compliance.
However, one of the drivers at the Yumbe/Koboko stage, Ashraf Abdulkarim, said: “Many taxis in Arua buy fuel from ‘OPEC boys’ (black market dealers), how is the Government going to collect taxes from them?â€
Black market fuel which is mainly sourced from DR Congo accounts for over 60% of the fuel sales in Arua town. The situation is similar in other West Nile towns especially those along the Congo and Sudan borders.
The fuel is sold in plastic 20 litre jerricans on the streets.
Attempts by Uganda Revenue Authority to curb smuggling of the fuel have had little impact.
Other people interviewed expressed relief at the abolition of road the licence fees.
“Personally, I would compare road licence to graduated tax. We were paying forcefully, but now we shall pay it willingly because it will be in bits. We will not feel it,†Bernard Andama, a taxi driver at Arua yard taxi operators stage, said.
Others preferred to maintain the road licence, saying the hiked fuel charges would be placed on the ‘innocent’ passengers. “Passengers will pay for the transport and the tax,†Saidi Mohammed said.
Arua town was yesterday thrown into jubilations after the Minister of Finance, Ezra Suruma, announced the abolition of road licence.
Some drivers around the main taxi park and special hire stages hooted in excitement as the minister pronounced the abolition during the budget reading at Parliament.
Suruma said the tax was dogged by rampant forgery of licence stickers and required a lot of resources to ensure compliance.
However, one of the drivers at the Yumbe/Koboko stage, Ashraf Abdulkarim, said: “Many taxis in Arua buy fuel from ‘OPEC boys’ (black market dealers), how is the Government going to collect taxes from them?â€
Black market fuel which is mainly sourced from DR Congo accounts for over 60% of the fuel sales in Arua town. The situation is similar in other West Nile towns especially those along the Congo and Sudan borders.
The fuel is sold in plastic 20 litre jerricans on the streets.
Attempts by Uganda Revenue Authority to curb smuggling of the fuel have had little impact.
Other people interviewed expressed relief at the abolition of road the licence fees.
“Personally, I would compare road licence to graduated tax. We were paying forcefully, but now we shall pay it willingly because it will be in bits. We will not feel it,†Bernard Andama, a taxi driver at Arua yard taxi operators stage, said.
Others preferred to maintain the road licence, saying the hiked fuel charges would be placed on the ‘innocent’ passengers. “Passengers will pay for the transport and the tax,†Saidi Mohammed said.