What has land inquiry achieved after 60 days? Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE & RONALD MUSOKE | On May 9, a renowned advocate became the first witness to testify before the seven-member Land Inquiry 2017 Commission headed by Lady Justice Catherine Bamugemereire. On July 6, Bamugemereire informed the media that …
Read More »IT authority setting up system to ease access to govt services
Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | Uganda’s National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) is planning to establish a central information technology system for sharing government information with the citizens. Leonah Mbonimpa, the corporate communications officer told The Independent on July 3 that procurement process is ongoing and plans are to have the system fully …
Read More »BUDGET: Will gamble on new betting tax fail?
Why government imposed 15% tax on betting winners but cut that of betting houses Kampala, Uganda |Julius Businge| There is continued debate surrounding the recent move by government to impose 15% withholding tax on winnings from gambling and the reduction in income tax on betting houses by 15% to …
Read More »Why Bank of Uganda has cut CBR to 10%
Says revamping the economy will depend on government spending Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | The Central Bank has once again lowered its indicative lending rate, the Central Bank Rate, in a bid to push commercial bank rates down and spur private sector borrowing in the next three months. …
Read More »INTERVIEW: High tax rates fuel corruption in customs
Recently, Uganda hosted members of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) hailing from 24 countries of East and Southern Africa (ESA) for a two-day 22nd governance council to discuss matters tax administration. The Independent’s Julius Businge jointly interviewed the organisers – WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya and Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner General …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Uganda Martyrs day
A celebration of faith by people from all walks of life On June 3 every year, the usually slow paced Namugongo village on the edge of Kampala becomes a hubbub of activity as millions of pilgrims from all over the world converge on it to celebrate the Uganda Martyrs Day. …
Read More »Uganda’s 2017/ 18 budget
Business leaders want economic reforms to boost the economy Planned government borrowing and increased taxes to fund the Shs29 trillion budget for financial year 2017/2018 have left investors and business leaders worried about the coming year, ahead of the budget announcement next week, an informal survey by The Independent has …
Read More »Will URA achieve the Shs420bn revenue target from small businesses by 2018/19?
The taxman plans to increase sentisation to meet targets of the program Last financial year, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) set an ambitious target to collect Shs420bn from small businesses across the country but preminary performance shows that it is likely not to be as expected. Data from the URA shows …
Read More »Banks setting up company to wipe off bad loans
Banks setting up company to wipe bad loans off their balance sheets After years of struggling to cope with borrowers failure to pay loans, Ugandan commercial banks have come together to form a joint company to deal with the problem on their behalf. Formation of the company currently called the …
Read More »INTERVIEW: Boosting accountancy profession
Rachel Grimes is the President of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the global umbrella body for all accountants. The Independent’s Julius Businge spoke to her at the opening of the five day 4th Africa Congress of Accountants (ACOA) held in Kampala from May 2-5. How important is this meeting to …
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