KACITA cautions govt on verification of traders

Kampala City Trader's Association (KACITA) has told the government that independent verification of Ugandan traders who claim loses registered in South Sudan from 2008 to 2013 is a waste of time.

The association leadership has instead advised the government to stick to the 2016 bilateral agreement that among others agreed on joint verification of the claimants.  

According to KACITA spokesperson Issa Ssekito, the government of South Sudan can't accept to pay any person verified in breach of the bilateral agreement.

"Appointing an independent firm to verify traders for both Uganda and South Sudan in breach of the agreement, that is deal darling the traders, the outcomes will automatically be rejected by South Sudan," Ssekito warned. 

The finance ministry has since contracted a local firm Ernst & Young to carry out independent verification of claims of Ugandan traders who supplied various goods to the South Sudan government. 

The finance ministry permanent secretary and the secretary to the Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi, recently through a media notice directed all Uganda traders who supplied various goods to South Sudan within the stipulated period to submit all the relevant documentation in support of their claims. 

He also noted that even the Ugandan traders who were operating in South Sudan that recently received part payment of the claims from the government of Uganda should also submit relevant documentation in support of the payment and all the other documentation that is relevant to their claims. 

Muhakanizi noted that the required documents should include the following at a minimum; the contracts with the South Sudan government, certificate of registration or TIN, export declaration or bills of entry issued by URA and tax returns. 

Others include goods release orders issued by URA, certificate of export, purchase order from the South Sudan government, invoices, packing lists, demand notes from the Juba administration, goods received notes, evidence for the source of financing among others.

Ssekito who said KACITA has received several petitions from the traders in regard to independent verification exercise maintained this will render the bilateral agreement and its sovereign guarantees established docile. 

"Meanwhile as KACITA we are urging the traders to calm down and ensure a harmonised procedural verification through a joint verification as agreed upon in the bilateral agreement. But it is clear that other than comforting the traders and other claimants, they are being frustrated by the government," he added. 

KACITA also expressed dissatisfaction with the government's failure to implement recommendations of the parliamentary committee set up to investigate the matter.

The chairperson of the select committee and Kyankwanzi Woman MP, Ann Maria Nankabirwa, recently told Parliament that all the traders would be paid after verification by both governments. 

"All those traders who supplied the government and its agencies and also the small traders will be verified and cleared. Governments on both sides have formed a verification team and once the traders are verified they will be paid," Nankabirwa said. 

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah, said South Sudan traders with some form of documentation should also be considered for payment, in the next phase. 

"Some of those (traders) with little or no documents should also be considered and recommended by the committee for payment," Oulanyah said. 

According to KACITA, South Sudan is committed to paying the traders, with some already cleared for payment.

In May this year, the finance state minister David Bahati, said that the private traders who did not directly supply the South Sudan government will not receive any compensation.

This, however, did not go down well with MPs who were not convinced that only those who supplied the government ought to be paid because all traders from both big and small companies supplied goods to South Sudan.