Kasese border market closed for breaching COVID-19 guidelines

Kasese’s Mpondwe-Lhubiriha market, which straddles the Uganda-DRC border, has been closed for failure to comply with government directives to combat the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

Kasese Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Lt. Joe Walusimbi ordered the shutdown of the market last Tuesday on grounds that vendors were in breach of the Ministry of Health’s guidelines on social distancing.

“I will not allow anyone to continue working if they cannot follow the guidelines,” the RDC vowed.

The next day (Wednesday), while addressing traders at Kisanga market (commonly known as Mawa market), he gave them a one-day ultimatum to comply with the directives or face the same fate as Mpondwe-Lhubiriha market.

Twice a week- on Mondays and Tuesdays- Mawa market attracts more than 2000 traders and tens of thousands of customers from all districts of western Uganda and from the DRC, all of whom cram into the market’s crowded space.

“From today, no weekly markets are allowed. We have levelled the inside of the market to accommodate all vendors. Those who are unwilling will not be allowed to work on streets until the directive is lifted,” he said, adding that failure to comply would lead to unilateral closure of the market.

He further ordered relocation of fish traders to an open space outside the market on Park drive in order to decongest the market.

In addition to Mpondwe-Lhubiriha, Bwera market was also closed for failure to observe social distancing and provide hand washing facilities, among other infractions.

Traders comply

When theCooperator visited Mawa market a day later, the RDC’s warning seemed to have taken effect, with several vendors at the market opting to work in shifts in order to observe the social distancing guidelines.

According to Richard Kimeze, the Chairperson of Mawa market vendors, the more than 600 vendors based in the market had agreed to work in shifts at 104 stalls demarcated by Municipal authorities to meet the 4-metre distance requirement.

“We [vendors] today resolved to start working in shifts so that we beat the 4-metre social distance as per presidential directive as one of the ways to control the spread of deadly COVID-19 disease,” Kimeze said.

Margret Birungi, the in-charge of hygiene and sanitation at the market hopes that the recently enforced spacing will result in improved hygiene within Mawa market.

“The market has been dirty because of congestion. We hope it will improve because of the distancing, and that traders will be better able to control their garbage,” she said.

She advised her fellow traders to observe social distance so that the market remains operational or else their children would starve during the quarantine.

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Farmers frustrated over low banana prices

Banana farmers in Uganda’s western region have expressed frustration over the current spell of low produce prices that threatens to drive many out of business.

Jomo Mugabe, a renowned farmer in Rukindo, Mbarara Municipality, maintains a 70-acre banana plantation. However, is bitter that he is receiving “peanuts” from the sale of matooke from his farm, as banana prices in the region continue to plummet.

“The price of bananas has reduced from Shs 20,000 a bunch, to between Shs 3,000-4,000 at farm gate. At such prices we are not making any profit. We cannot even afford to pay workers,” he said.

Mugabe, who harvests more than 10,000 bunches of banana every three weeks and employs 15 workers, believes that if the low prices persist, many farmers will quit growing the crop that is a staple for millions of Ugandans.

“I have been farming for many years but have reached a level of failing because the prices of bananas have reduced so much. If it persists like this then it means that we are going to get away from farming,” he said.

However, according to Asaph Muhangi, the Chairperson Rwampara district, the drop in prices is simply a result of market forces.

“People have grown bananas on a large scale meaning that the supply is high and demand low,” he explained. This surplus production, Muhangi said, coupled with competition from other food commodities on the local, has resulted in low prices for bananas.

Promote export, value addition

Muhangi proposed export promotion as a possible solution, saying bananas are in demand on the world market, including in countries like China, India and the USA.

“We had suggested that government should import coolers and Germany was willing to provide them, but the project proposal failed somewhere along the way. As we speak, we cannot export fresh matooke even up to Kenya,” he said.

He also called for increased investment in value addition for banana on a large scale, saying the local processing facilities are inadequate to absorb the available supply.

“The banana factory we have in Nyaruzinga Bushenyi produces very little compared to the amount of matooke we have in the region. Can you imagine the whole regional banana factory processes only one lorry per week?” he asked.

Muhangi further urged farmers to take charge of their own marketing and avoid brokers and middle men who, he said, tend to offer low prices at farm gate.

“Do not grow your crops waiting for others to trade them for you,” he advised. “If famers like Mugabe took their bananas direct to Kampala, they would not be cheated by the middle men at all,” he explained.

The district Chairman believes that farmer organizations can do more in obtaining more favourable prices and farming conditions for their members.

“We have weak farmer organizations which should be working to reduce production costs by helping farmers obtain inputs equipment, agrichemicals and fertilizers at cheaper rates; but farmer cooperatives are so weak that they cannot even market their own products,” Muhangi said.

Prepare for post COVID-19 opportunities

Chairman Muhangi called upon farmers to prepare to take advantage of the post-COVID-19 period which, he predicts, will come with heightened demand for food.

“I see a bright future for bananas now because this global pandemic is likely to result in a global food crisis,” he opined.

However, Mugabe appealed for increased government support if farmers are to benefit from any possible opportunities after the pandemic.

“Government should find ways to support farmers financially, especially those who grow perishable crops. We need low-interest business loans if we are to survive,” he said.

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Uganda loses $270,000 per day to smuggling – URA

According to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), government loses at least $270,000 (about Shs 985 million) per day to smuggling in unpaid taxes and some officials in the tax body are complicit in turning a blind eye to the vice.

This was revealed to theCooperator by the then Commissioner-General of URA, Ms. Doris Akol, during a phone interview conducted prior to her replacement.

The annual Performance Report of 2018 jointly authored by ActionAid and Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), both civil society entities that have been involved in fighting the outflow, support this assertion.

The report reads in part that, “More than $3,240,000 which is Shs11.8 billion flows out of Uganda annually as smuggling is aided by some of the corrupt border officials fuelling this phenomenon,” referring to Uganda’s loss to Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs).

Smuggling is a global issue that is difficult to curb given its complex operations and the diverse commodities and persons involved.

Global Financial Integrity, a non-profit, Washington, DC-based research entity explains smuggling as a form of IFFs, broadly known as the movements of money and value from one country to another, especially money and value that are illicitly earned, illicitly transferred and illicitly utilised.

Smuggling is common on the Uganda-Kenya border towns of Busia and Malaba as it is practiced by the seemingly innocent women, disabled persons and children who are paid to do that by rich traders.

Others pose as relatives going to mourn their loved ones across Kenya’s border yet their aim is to smuggle merchandise, denying government $270,000 revenue per day.

Jabweli Okello, 43, a smuggler at Malaba border says, “It’s the biting poverty that forced me into illegal trade and I know it. However, it has helped me to flourish in these difficult times.”

Okello (not real name), a renowned smuggler in eastern Uganda, owns a number of taxis that ply the Malaba-Kampala highway and he recently won a tender to manage a taxi park in Malaba Town Council in Tororo district.

Travellers are able to cross with commodities such as cigarettes, clothes, sugar and other general merchandise which they stuff into their clothing unnoticed by the border authorities.

Moses Musira, an independent tax policy analyst says, “It’s a hard thing for the government to think that it can stop smuggling. No. You cannot. There are government officials who benefit a lot out of smuggling and have amassed untold wealth, and government knows it.”

“Even those who work with URA are part of the clique,” he exclaimed, saying, “A businessman can smuggle five cars and give one car to URA officials because he knows how much he stands to gain from the four cars.”

Combating IFFs

Akol says URA is ready to support any campaign meant to combat IFFs into the country.

She made these remarks while in a stakeholders meeting with other institutions like the Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) in Kampala recently.

“URA is already involved in some aspects of curbing IFFs. Our plan is to increase the collection of domestic revenue through stopping IFFs, especially arising from smuggling, misinvoicing, transfer pricing and other forms of aggressive tax evasion,” Akol said.

However, Musira says: “The only remedy for smuggling is to have it reduced but nobody should deceive the public that it can be stopped.”

He says for countries that share common borders to reduce the rate of smuggling, they should sensitize and educate their citizens around the border against the vice.

“Uganda should ensure that it enforces pro-people tax policies that don’t deny people access to basic commodities.”

Musira cites a case in point where authorities in Kenya have banned cheap milk imports that flood their markets in order to protect local farmers and revive the agricultural sector.

“This kind of restriction encourages smuggling by those traders who cannot afford to buy Kenyan expensive products; they will be propelled to engage in the smuggling of Ugandan cheap products,” Musira sums up.

The Town Clerk, Busia Town Council, Vincent Okurut, in a telephone interview, says, “The problem of smuggling can only be stopped by enforcement of tough restrictions at entry points.

Julius Mukunda, the CSBAG executive director, says the economies of small towns are dependent on smuggling as a number of citizens engage themselves in the practice in order to earn a living.

Unfortunately, to Mukunda, this affects the abilities of URA to generate the expected revenue as much is lost through smuggling.

“Smuggling at the border towns affects youths negatively as most of them opt to smuggle and earn quick petty cash as opposed to attending school. This not only affects the families of these youths but also impedes government from achieving its overall objective of improving literacy,” Mukunda says.

Mukunda adds that the robust solution to smuggling is for government to impose heavier fines and penalties on smugglers.

This story was produced by www.thecooperator.news. It was written as part of Wealth of Nations, a media skills development programme run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism. More information at www.wealth-of-nations.org. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and the publisher.

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