• Latest
I Exploited Customs Inefficiency to Smuggle Guns – Museveni

I Exploited Customs Inefficiency to Smuggle Guns – Museveni

January 20, 2019
NRM’s Andrew Oulanyah Takes Omoro County in Landslide Victory

NRM’s Andrew Oulanyah Takes Omoro County in Landslide Victory

May 26, 2022
Parliament passes Income Tax Amendment Bill 2021

Oil and Gas Sector Will Propel Economic Growth- Minister Musasizi

May 26, 2022
BOU Concerned About Delays in Financial Sector Amendments

BoU Approves Afriland First Bank Request for Voluntary Liquidation

May 26, 2022
MP Okin Ojara, FDC Agents Arrested in Omoro

MP Okin Ojara, FDC Agents Arrested in Omoro

May 26, 2022
VP Alupo in Equatorial Guinea for AU Summit on Terrorism

VP Alupo in Equatorial Guinea for AU Summit on Terrorism

May 26, 2022
4 Children Killed in Kira House Fire

4 Children Killed in Kira House Fire

May 26, 2022
5 Dead, 8 Injured in Kyegegwa Accident

5 Dead, 8 Injured in Kyegegwa Accident

May 26, 2022
Museveni Appoints 16 High Court Judges in Largest Appointment of the High Court Ever

Museveni Appoints 16 High Court Judges in Largest Appointment of the High Court Ever

May 26, 2022
Mental Health: Calls for Big Budget as 14 Million Ugandans Become Mentally Sick

Mental Health: Calls for Big Budget as 14 Million Ugandans Become Mentally Sick

May 26, 2022
Museveni Meets Saudi Royal Court Advisor, Sinovac Vaccine Team

Museveni Meets Saudi Royal Court Advisor, Sinovac Vaccine Team

May 25, 2022
Kenya, Uganda Tour Operators Call for Joint Promotional Activities to Boost Tourism

Kenya, Uganda Tour Operators Call for Joint Promotional Activities to Boost Tourism

May 25, 2022
Besigye Refuses to Pay Shs30m Bail, Sent to Luzira

Besigye Refuses to Pay Shs30m Bail, Sent to Luzira

May 25, 2022
SoftPower News
Friday, May 27, 2022
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women
No Result
View All Result
SoftPower News
No Result
View All Result

I Exploited Customs Inefficiency to Smuggle Guns – Museveni

by Paul Ampurire
January 20, 2019
I Exploited Customs Inefficiency to Smuggle Guns – Museveni

President Museveni inspecting the Electronic Cargo Tracking System at URA headquarters.

  • Facebook
  • Tweet
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • Email

President Yoweri Museveni has challenged the tax body, URA, to beef up its capacity especially at the border points by adopting more innovative measures including the reliance on technology if it is to close the gaps in revenue collection.

The President said this on Saturday while commissioning the new URA Tower that will house the Authority headquarters in Nakawa. The Shs 139bn building which has 22 floors will according to URA improve service delivery and reduce the cost of doing business for both the tax body and the tax payer.

Museveni who officiated at the launch of the Tower alluded to the inefficiencies that characterized URA’s customs department in the 1980s. It is due to this laxity that he at numerous occasions managed to sneak huge assortments of guns and ammunition through the border points into Uganda, he said.

“I benefitted from the inefficiency of the customs officers. I used it to carry out my projects. But that’s when I realized there was no government in East Africa,” Museveni said.

At one occasion, he said, he smuggled 12 sub machine guns from Moshi through Lungalunga and Malaba to Kampala. In another incidents, his associate smuggled 96 riffles, 8 RPGs, 5 FN machine guns and 100 landmines which he had hidden under tea in a truck, into Uganda from Bujumbura (Burundi).

“There was technology incapacity in URA but also those departments (custom) were useless. They lacked a sense of vigilance. Thats why we had to revamp the URA when we came into power,” the President said.

Museveni said that URA is still incapacitated to sufficiently check any leakages, citing the absence of non-intrusive scanners at the borders. He partly attributed these gaps to the Ministry of Finance.

“Dont hide behind budget. Shout to that Ministry of Planning. How did I bring guns from Moshi to here? Because there are so many people in a train is was not physically possible to inspect all the package”.

According to the President, the only logical approach to cracking down on smuggling which he also categorized as a security issue, is to pre-scan any luggage that is going to be put on a train.

“And once it is scanned, nothing should be removed. If you don’t do that, you are only wasting time. Just putting on badges”.

“Tell the Ministry that ‘I can not do my work [at the border] without scanners because I don’t know what these people are carrying’. I can’t agree to be there even for one day because I would be deceiving myself. I have no X-ray in my eye to look inside these lorries”.

He said that whereas it is good that URA is doing monitoring the movement of cargo electronically, the ports remain exposed to possible smuggling. He advised that URA considers installing cameras for easy monitoring.

The President also said that URA has in the past been negligent on dealing with the problem of businesses that underdeclare their revenue, particularly citing the telecom companies.

“The Authority used to go to these telephone companies and ask them ‘So how many telephone calls are made every day?’ And they wld underdeclare by 2 million or so. I now know and they are going to pay all the arrears,” the President said.

Post Views: 1,054
  • Facebook
  • Tweet
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • Email
Tags: customsNewsnon-intrusive scannerssmugglingSoft Power NewstechnologyUgandaURAURA TowerYoweri Museveni
Leave Comment

Recent Stories

NRM’s Andrew Oulanyah Takes Omoro County in Landslide Victory

Oil and Gas Sector Will Propel Economic Growth- Minister Musasizi

BoU Approves Afriland First Bank Request for Voluntary Liquidation

MP Okin Ojara, FDC Agents Arrested in Omoro

VP Alupo in Equatorial Guinea for AU Summit on Terrorism

4 Children Killed in Kira House Fire

SoftPower News

SoftPower News is a subsidiary of SoftPower Communications LLC, a Ugandan digital media group. Keep posted of the latest from Uganda and East Africa.
Plot 4B Malcolm X, Kololo
P.O Box 1497, Kampala - Uganda
Tel: +256-392-001-701
Email: info@softpower.ug

This news site is licenced by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Regional
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More

© SoftPower News

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women

© SoftPower News

error: Content is protected

Send this to a friend