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By Aggrey Baba
Robert Kalumba, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) spokesperson, has come out strongly to clarify on the confusion surrounding group importation and sudden tax complaints, placing the blame squarely on a growing network of container mafias who have for years preyed on small and medium traders.
Kalumba was responding to a social media uproar, including concerns allegedly from traders and associations like KACITA, who claimed that URA had banned group importation and imposed abrupt tax hikes, making business unbearable for some Ugandans.
Writing in a detailed thread, Kalumba clarified, saying, “Let no one lie to you. Group importation has never been banned. What was banned is Groupage Clearance, where one person fraudulently clears goods on behalf of others using their TIN.”
According to him, the Authority had uncovered shocking practices where self-proclaimed container leaders were not just overcharging traders but also forging documents, evading taxes, and holding people’s goods hostage until they paid inflated fees.
“These individuals collected money claiming it was for URA, inflated assessments, gave us fake invoices, and in many cases never remitted the taxes. They held entire containers until everyone paid up. This was not just wrong, but criminal,” Kalumba said.
He described them as a well-organized mafia, feeding off helpless traders and crippling honest businesses. “These are the people we are dealing with. They are not helping traders; they are exploiting them,” he emphasized.
In a recent public notice, URA reaffirmed that importing goods in groups remains fully legal, but every trader must now clear their own cargo using their own Tax Identification Number (TIN) and documents. This, according to URA, ensures that each importer is assessed fairly, pays the right amount, and is protected from exploitation.
“Everyone must carry their own cross,” Kalumba noted, adding that this approach will cut out middlemen, prevent tax fraud, and fast-track clearance, ideally within two working days.
The spokesperson also called on small importers to insist on individual house bills and avoid being lured into shortcuts.
“It is not more expensive to self-clear. That’s just a lie they’ve been told for years,” he wrote.
This revelation follows increasing frustration from small traders still recovering from the COVID-19 slump,.with many saying that URA’s changes came too fast, without proper consultation, and have only made their situation worse.
But URA is standing its ground, saying the clean-up is necessary. “We must protect genuine traders from those who use the system to enrich themselves unfairly,” Kalumba said.
URA has also warned consolidators to play by the rules or face consequences, noting that several fraudsters have already been arrested and charged in court.
The message is clear, that Group importation is legal and encouraged, but fraudulent groupage clearance by third parties is banned, and each trader must take personal responsibility for their taxes. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
