Henry Mukasa and Madinah Tebajjukira
25 August 2008
Kampala — TRADERS are angry over what they called unfair trade agreements Uganda has signed with other East Africa Community (EAC) partners.
They said the pacts were negatively affecting their businesses and also complained to Parliament that the officials who negotiated for the country in Arusha, the community headquarters, endorsed deals that only favoured Kenyans.
The concerns are contained in a report of the committee on tourism, trade and industry on the budget estimates for the 2008/2009 financial year.
The traders, who said they supported the regional integration, however, noted that it was moving too fast and to their disadvantage.
"The EAC was supposed to be private sector-driven but the reality on the ground is that the business community is being left behind. Trade issues agreed by the member states are not practiced by some states," they said.
The committee head, Kiiza Rwebembera, who on Friday read the report to MPs, pointed out that polythene bags below 30 microns had been banned in Uganda but were being exported from Kenya.
"These bags find their way to Uganda yet our manufacturers stopped producing them. This is not fair to us," read the petition.
The businessmen also observed that many non-tax barriers remained existed between the member states despite the Customs Union protocol.
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