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Members of Parliament sitting on the Parliamentary Committee of Trade and Industry have accused some Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) whom they say connive with some new sugar factories to help them evade taxes.

The Committee Chaired by the  MP for Fort Portal Municipality, Alex Ruhunda, while interfacing with the officials from the URA and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) alluded that in their visit to sugar companies, they come across reports that   some URA officers who connive with these new factories to help them evade taxes for selfish gains.

Ruhunda said that if someone compares the metric tons these new sugar factories produce, it does not match with the taxes that are being paid.

He said that the new factories have found a clever way of going about taxes with URA .

Ruhunda said that it’s difficult for URA corrupt officials to use the original sugar factories to evade the taxes for their own benefit.

He also criticized the UIA managers for licensing one sugar factory to take all the monopoly of sugar production from one sub region.

Ruhunda noted that the UIA licensed Kinyara sugar works for production of sugar in Bunyoro sub region which he says undermines competition.

URA commissioner in-charge of customs, Dicksons Kateshumbwa

The URA commissioner in-charge of customs, Dicksons Kateshumbwa, however defended the authority saying it has zero tolerance to corruption and its does not tolerate any of its officers found guilty of corruption.

The post MPS accuse URA officials of connivance with new sugar factories to evade taxes first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

MP for Fort portal Municipality, Alex Ruhunda

Sugar companies under the their umbrella group the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association (USMA) have petitioned Parliament put stringent measures on the sugar bill with a tough clause barring sugar factories away from unrecomended areas.

The sugar companies members were appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry chaired by the MP for Fort portal Municipality, Alex Ruhunda, to give their position on the sugar bill which is under scrutiny.

Commenting on Section 13 (2) of the sugar bill the chairman of the USMA who is also the Director Madhvani Group, Jim Mwine Kabeho, proposed that if a sugar company establishes a sugar milling factory in a wrong place, they should be charged a penalty fee of 500 million shillings instead of 10 million shillings as proposed in the bill.

The bill seeks to license only one sugar milling factory in a zone of 25km radius and a minimum distance between any two sugar mills to be 50 km

Mwine said that due limited sugar cane supply, companies are facing, there are no more hopes for export of sugar yet sugar industries had doubled, adding that cane realization from 1 acre where 35 tones expected has reduced to 20 tones justifying the sugar shortage.

He noted sugar Cane age harvest used to be at 18 months but now has gone to 12 months which gives out low sugar production for the market because of harvesting under age sugar cane.

A man scoops sugar into a cup to make tea.

Mwine said that Uganda sugar price is the highest in the world because the cane price from the sugar farmers has gone to the alarming cost forcing sugar price going up.

He noted that a cane price is now at 175 shillings because of its shortage at the farmers gardens.

Mwine also revealed that sugar cane farmers lose an average of 4 tons of sugar per hectare per month because of harvesting the underage cane.

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