By CHANGE OF GUARDS
In pursuit of his scheme to have his son, Gen. Muhoozi, inherit the presidency, Gen. Museveni has formally assigned him the army chief. This came after he sacked Gen. Mbadi from the same position and instead assigned him Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives. While Gen. Mbadi had merely been warming the chair for Gen. Muhoozi, the trade docket was the least expected alternative deployment for him. With 38 years of military service characterized by specialized command and administration training at some of the world’s most prestigious military academies, he holds a Diploma in Strategic Studies from the University of Nairobi and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the Air Wing College in Alabama, USA. Though his formal educational background is not publicly known, it’s likely that he didn’t go beyond the Ordinary Level of secondary school. Unlike his colleagues in the army who upgraded their formal education credentials by returning to the classroom, he solely invested in military service. This was similar to the situation with army officers from the West Nile region who served under the Idi Amin regime.
Therefore, if Gen. Mbadi has any understanding of trade and commerce in general, it’s from his secondary school study of the subject of commerce. Apart from his cross-border smuggling of smoked fish to Congo before he joined the army, he lacks the basic dynamics of modern trade at both national and international levels. He lacks knowledge in basic economics regarding taxation, fiscal policy, tariffs, free trade zones, trade diplomacy, and other related fundamentals of modern trade.
Museveni’s militarized tax collection body, the URA, is under pressure to expand its tax base and collect 31 trillion Shillings in domestic revenues. Almost 85% of this revenue is supposed to come from the greater Kampala region, placing a heavy burden on local traders. They find themselves competing with those who have connections and enjoy preferential tax exemptions and waivers. For instance, an individual named Kananura is being recommended for a tax waiver of 3 billion Shillings on the grounds that he is 86 years old and suffering from diabetes.
During the regime’s two-year Covid-19 lockdown, these same local traders suffered greatly. They were unable to access the mysterious 200 billion Shilling Covid-19 Relief Fund that the regime claimed to have deposited in the Uganda Development Bank. Moreover, they are being compelled to pay tax arrears dating back as far as 2018. To exacerbate matters, brutal tax enforcement is carried out by high-handed armed soldiers. Major trade hubs like the infamous Kikuubo are under siege by these armed soldiers.
On the contrary, Chinese and Indian investors, who receive free land, tax waivers/exemptions, and 15-year tax holidays, are engaging in retail trade and hawking. They are closely guarded by armed soldiers and are competing with local traders in major trading and shopping hubs. Furthermore, they are importing raw materials for their factories instead of utilizing the abundant local resources. These factories also operate shops downtown and distribute goods upcountry, thus distorting the supply chain.
The high taxes are incongruent with the dire state of social services provision, such as the perilous road infrastructure in the city and upcountry feeder roads, frequent fire outbreaks targeting business premises, and inadequate health and educational services. Coupled with corruption and the squandering of public resources, this situation has prompted traders and the general population to demand accountability from the regime. Traders are threatening a strike, and the ordinary population is backing them.
However, the regime shows no signs of relenting, as it pursues a broader agenda of impoverishing specific sections of the population. This is evident in its prioritization of armed revenue collection. Hence, the deployment of Gen. Mbadi to the Ministry of Trade effectively designates him as the Commander of the armed revenue collection. Consequently, the current trader’s strike has been met with heightened military deployment. Gen. Mbadi’s command will not only oversee militarized revenue collection but also extend to the so-called Fisheries Protection Unit, which regulates the fishing business.
INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS MUSEVENISM
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