By Andrew Cohen Amvesi
ARUA
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) officials together with the different leaders in West Nile have come up with solutions to the killings which have been reported in the region.
In a closed-door meeting chaired by Brig. Gen. Michael Kabango, the 4th Division Commander in Arua City Council Hall on Monday, the team agreed on some key resolutions to end the numerous cases of loss of lives by URA officials during enforcement in West Nile.
The meeting was triggered by the January 3, 2024 incident in which URA enforcement officers shot one person dead and injured four others while impounding numberless motorcycles at Okollo trading center in Okollo Town Council, Madi Okollo district.
Shortly after the meeting, Kabango told journalists that they have adopted a strategy of 3Es (Educate, Engage and Enforce) as the main resolution to end bloodshed in the region.
“We agreed from now onwards that we employ the strategy of 3Es. Educate, after educating, continue engaging and enforcing as a last resort. We condemned in totality, the loss of life occasioned by actions of the security forces or even the community because some members of the security forces have been injured and killed by public action. So, we totally condemned both forms of violence that lead to injury and death to the community,” Kabango said.
“We also condemned smuggling and tax evasion. We must pay taxes because taxes bring back services to the people and deal with all the resource requirements of the government. Without revenue, the government will collapse. So, we must continue to collect taxes,” Kabango remarked.
He further noted that they have agreed that URA staff be permanent members of district security committees.
Kabango said this was after realizing that the problem of smuggling, the mistakes in enforcement and noncompliance in West Nile is compounded by the security environment in the neighboring countries of DR Congo and South Sudan.
“But also, the historical perspective in the region. This region has a history where at one time in the 1970s, there was mass exodus of the breadwinners into exile. When they came back, they came back without skills, they came back without incomes, so this led to a chain reaction where the communities now do not have skills, children are not educated and the youth now are unemployed massively. So, we can’t treat the problem like normal,” Kabango stated.
He said they equally agreed that all operations should be done jointly with other security forces with URA being in the lead, police, intelligence and UPDF to work together because of the complexity of the operations.
“We also agreed that let us have joint mobilization and sensitization of the communities about taxation and tax administration. We realized there was a gap of knowledge and obligation on both sides; the taxpayer and the enforcement officers. Nobody seems to know enough, so continuous education is needed but this can only be done by those the community members understand best, who are their elected leaders,” Kabango said among other resolutions reached at, by the leaders and URA officials.
Godson Mwesigye, the URA Acting Assistant Commissioner – Enforcement said the incidents that happened in West Nile really bother them a lot as URA.
“You will agree with me that two wrongs don’t make a good. So, the two violence from the wananchi and then the armed forces are something we should condemn in strongest terms. Another thing we have done is carryout sensitization. We talked about educating, engaging and then enforcing, this is something we are going to do continuously,” Mwesigye pledged.
Besides, Mwesigye said they are putting up clients’ information centers so that at every given point, the taxpayer can come and ask about the products and services rendered by URA.
On behalf of the leaders in the region, Jackson Atima Lee Buti, the Arua Central Division MP who doubles as the regional government chief whip for West Nile promised that they are going to take up the issue of harsh policies as Parliament.
He said for example, allowing people to pay taxes in installments is what they need to embrace as MPs.
“If paying shs1.5m for a motorcycle number plate can’t be afforded in a region like West Nile which is vulnerable, affirmative action should be employed and people should be given some opportunity to pay in installment. Two, this region being vulnerable, we should have affirmative actions like what we did in Karamoja where some budget was appropriated to help the Karachunas. So, those are some of the things we have to take up as policy makers,” Atima suggested.
Relatedly, Atima said being in the East African Community (EAC), he sees no reason why taxes and prices of essential goods like fuel, rice, cooking oil and other commodities should be different from Uganda and Congo.
He suggested that as EAC, there is a need to engage the neighboring countries especially in the East African Legislative Assembly to put one price for each commodity across the region.
