Uganda Revenue Authority recently destroyed 36 tonnes of contraband cigarettes worth Shs 7 billion in taxes as the tax body moved to reiterate its intention of punishing any tax evader they find.
The contrabands were impounded all over the country, but mainly through the northern route, smuggled from South Sudan and Kenya into the Ugandan market.
According to URA, Uganda loses Shs 30 billion due to the illicit trade of cigarettes. Smuggling is considered a lucrative business in terms of cigarettes.
Moses Kyomuhendo, the manager of Enforcement Operations, central region at Uganda Revenue Authority, said they impounded illicit cigarettes from different areas all over the country for failure to meet the necessary requirements and regulations that are needed for a cigarette to be on our market. Such requirements include a tax stamp to show that it has paid duty.
The Tobacco Control Act of 2015 spells out that a person shall not import, manufacture, distribute, sell, or offer for sale a tobacco product in Uganda without the health warnings and messages that shall appear together and shall occupy no less than 65 per cent of each principal display area of the unit packet.
He said smuggled cigarettes suffocate the local market because they are sold cheaply. If you look at the quantities that are paid for taxes and compare them to what is being smuggled, you realize that this is eating almost half of the market value.
As the enforcement teams all over the country, we are targeting this particular product to ensure that we actually eliminate this vice. The smuggled and destroyed
cigarette brands include Supermatch, Business Royal, Platinum, Oris, Blue, and other brands.
“We have a lot of illicit cigarettes on the market, and these eat into the genuine market of the genuine people who are paying taxes, like the British American Tobacco Company (BAT), even those others that are manufactured within the country,” he said.
The contraband was destroyed at the Nakasongola destruction facility, a protected area manned by Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF). URA explained that the facility was chosen because they don’t want these cigarettes to end up on the market again.
“We want to ensure that genuine companies that are paying taxes remain in business for our country to gain in terms of the taxes that we are collecting and protect the health of Ugandans. Consuming a product that is not labelled with health warnings can be dangerous to the health of a person. We want Ugandans to know that once I consume cigarettes, I will get sick,” he said.
URA implored all Ugandans to alert the URA enforcement teams whenever they see cigarettes in the shops without any health warnings or tax stamps for it to manage what is being consumed on the market, and to ensure that taxes are paid for the benefit of every Ugandan.
“We arrested and prosecuted a number of culprits while others have been convicted and sentenced. When we even get you conveying this cigarette, whether in a vehicle, truck, motorcycle, or bicycle, we confiscate the means of conveyance to ensure that there is a maximum penalty given to such offenders,” he said.
He further said the maximum penalty for a vehicle is not less than $5,000; if you are a repeat offender, the government has a right to forfeit that means of conveyance, and indeed a number have been forfeited for smuggling these cigarettes.
