MPs want Kadaga to intervene in saving situation on escalating sugar prices

Members of Parliament have appealed to the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, to intervene in the ongoing escalation of sugar prices in the country and save the common person the burden of paying a high price for a basic commodity like sugar.

State minister for trade, Michael Werikhe, while briefing the MPs recently said government is trying to make prices of sugar go down because it is concerned about the escalating prices for sugar in the country and regionally which has lasted for almost nine months.

He said that the government will monitor sugar prices to ensure that the retail price does not exceed 5,000 Uganda shillings.

Werikhe attributed  the escalating sugar prices to increasing demand in the East African region that he says has caused a gap 300,000 metric tons in Kenya and 40,000 metric tons in Rwanda.

He however, noted that the sugar prices at retail level have gone down from 8500Uganda shillings to 5000 Uganda shillings.

A consumer measures sugar on a spoon

Werikhe also attributed the sugar cane shortage to prolonged drought and harvesting of immature sugar cane.

He urged the sugar millers to maintain normal sugar production and encourage sugar cane supply from out growers.

Some MPs however, said the current price of sugar being 5,000 Uganda shillings is still way too high for a common man to afford.

Kamuli district Member of Parliament, Hajati Rehma Watongola, appealed to the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga to intervene on the sugar prices.

“The Speaker should intervene on this matter so as to save the common person from this high sugar prices. Even if government has set the current price for a kilogram of sugar at 5,000 Uganda shillings, this price is still way too high for especially our rural people. We the prices reduced further by more than a half,” says Wetangula.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.