The Uganda Revenue Authority has destroyed 36 tonnes of contraband cigarettes at the Nakasongola destruction facility, a protected area manned by Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
The contraband worth Shs 7 billion in taxes was impounded all over the country, but mainly through the northern areas, smuggled from South Sudan and Kenya into the Ugandan market.
According to URA, Uganda loses Shs 30 billion due to the illicit trade of cigarettes.
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Moses Kyomuhendo, the manager of Enforcement Operations, central region at the Uganda Revenue Authority, said they impounded illicit cigarettes from different areas all over the country for failure to meet the necessary requirements and regulations that are needed for a cigarette to be on our market.
“We have a lot of illicit cigarettes on the market, and these eat into the genuine market of the genuine people who are paying taxes, like the British American Tobacco Company (BAT), even those others that are manufactured within the country,” he said.
He added that smuggled cigarettes suffocate the local market because they are sold cheaply. If you look at the quantities that are paid for taxes and compare them to what is being smuggled, you realize that this is eating almost half of the market value and collapsing businesses.
“We want to ensure that genuine companies that are paying taxes remain in business for our country to gain in terms of the taxes that we are collecting and protect the health of Ugandans. Consuming a product that is not labelled with health warnings can be dangerous to the health of a person. We want Ugandans to know that once I consume cigarettes, I will get sick,” he said.
“We arrested and prosecuted a number of culprits, while others have been convicted and sentenced. When we even get you conveying this cigarette, whether in a vehicle, truck, motorcycle, or bicycle, we confiscate the means of conveyance to ensure that there is a maximum penalty given to such offenders,” he said.
He further said the maximum penalty for a vehicle is not less than $5,000; if you are a repeat offender, the government has a right to forfeit that means of conveyance, and indeed a number have been forfeited for smuggling these cigarettes.
URA explained that the destruction facility was chosen because they don’t want these cigarettes to end up on the market again.
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