For a very long time, Traders around the country have tried to have a meeting with President Museveni in vain. They wanted to disclose their grievances, especially regarding the recently introduced Electronic Fiscal Recepting and Invoicing System (EFRIS). However, in a meeting held today at the KOLOLO independence grounds the two parties failed to reach a common ground.
According to traders the Electronic Fiscal Recepting and invoicing system has many challenges that are incompatible with the trading especially those dealing in small businesses. It also poses a risk of over-taxation and it is expensive to operate since the machine needed costs over a million shillings.
The traders are also penalized if they don’t report correctly or make any mistake in their filing. This and so many reasons were fronted by their leaders to the president.
“Mr. President, I have tried several times to learn how to operate the machine but I failed to understand it. It is too complicated for the common man like traders. Some of our people are also overwhelmed by huge expensive loans to service. The landlords are also cheating us on the units of UMEME we pay to light our shops, “Kabanda leader of FUTA claimed.
After hours of attentive listening to traders, the President addressed their concerns by advising them and giving examples of how they can learn what the government wants.
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Firstly, Mr. Museveni condemned their leaders like Ssekito who is the spokesperson for Kampala City Traders Association ( KACITA) for misguiding them. He also encouraged them to change from importing consumer goods to engaging in exporting and creating a market for locally manufactured goods.
We should not export our jobs and money to the people abroad. The Europeans don’t want us to export products to their markets.
“We also need to protect our market,” he remarked.
