Koboko leaders warn traders against smuggling at Uganda-South Sudan border.
By Okidi Patrick Ocamoyitdyel
KOBOKO, UGANDA: District leaders in Koboko have warned the business community at border posts to stop smuggling goods, saying the vice leads to fake items and undermines development.
The leaders — District Chairperson Mambu Asirafu, RDC Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka and DRDC Haji Marijani — were addressing traders at Oraba border station on the Uganda-South Sudan border.
The meeting, organized by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), was aimed at sensitizing the business community on the new tax amendments passed by Parliament.
The leaders told traders that smuggling brings in substandard goods that are not scrutinized by experts at the border points.
“Some of the smuggled items are responsible for increasing dangerous diseases like cancer and other incurable diseases leading to premature deaths,” the leaders said.
They also cautioned smugglers against dodging taxes, noting that taxes are responsible for developing the country.
The engagement was also attended by Sanyu Clare, Supervisor Stakeholder Relations Northern Region URA, and Ajiga Mansur, Ag. Supervisor Enforcement and Border Control West Nile URA.
The new RDC Koboko Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka thanked URA for improving their services by talking to tax payers and acting on issues raised by the tax payers.
Hashaka thanked tax payers in Uganda for paying taxes which are used to develop the country.
The Koboko RDC cited the tarmaked road from Kampala- up to Oraba border yet on the South side it is not tarmaked.
The Supervisor stakeholder relations Northern Uganda Sanyu Clare and the Ag.Supervisor enforcement and border control west Nile Ajiga Mansur, thanked the district Chairperson Koboko and RDCs office for accepting to join URA in sensitising the public about the importance of taxation to the country and discouraging smuggling.
Ajiga and Sanyu disclosed that URA is currently engaging the community country wide to sensitise them about the importance of taxes and getting feed back from them.
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