Author: Ali Ruralire

The Committee on Commissions Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has challenged the Uganda Revenue Authority to intensify tax education to sensitize taxpayers on aspects of taxation and their obligations. The committee members made the call yesterday during the discussion of the December 2023 Auditor General’s report. They noted that some misunderstandings between URA and taxpayers arise out of limited understanding of tax education . They singled out the recent strike where traders closed their shops as they demonstrated against the implementation of the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System (EFRIS). Hon. Medard Lubega Sseggona, the Committee Chairperson, urged URA…

LONDON: The United Kingdom and Schengen countries raised millions of pounds and euros in fees from rejected visa applications from Pakistan, new research published this month shows. The analysis released by Lago Collective, a community of researchers, policymakers and designers, shows that Pakistanis spent £5.3 million on rejected UK visa applications, with close to 40 per cent applications rejected from Pakistan in 2023. In the same year, around 50pc of Schengen visas from Pakistan were also rejected, with €3.344m spent on applications. The data was published in collaboration with the EUobserver, which reported that EU governments raked in €130m per year in…

Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has vowed to jealousy guard and retain her seat as Speaker of Parliament, saying she worked hard as a house girl, local brew seller and cleaner at Centenary Bank , after running away from home following rejection by her father, who wanted to force her into childhood marriage like he did to her sisters. “As I told you, I will keep this seat jealously because I worked for it. I refused to become a teenage mother. So I am going to be in this seat, so you better guard this seat, other than this business…

Budadiri West MP, Nathan Nandala Mafabi has called for the arrest of all members of parliament on the Legal & Parliamentary Affairs Committee, for conspicuously approving the Shs1.7Bn Service Award given to the four Commissioners, saying the only exceptional thing the quartet has done is to fill Parliament with their relatives in lucrative staff positions.  He made the remarks while addressing journalists after signing the censure motion, saying for the past 23 years he has been at Parliament, no Commissioner has ever been paid any service award, saying the MPs on Legal Committee should be arrested like their counterparts on…

The Uganda Police have conducted a search at the residence of Hon. Yusuf Mutembule, the Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Legal Committee, amid ongoing corruption allegations. The legislator, is being held by police amid budget corruption investigations involving officials from the Parliament of Uganda and the Ministry of Finance. Mutembuli together with Cissy Dionizia Namujju (Lwengo District Woman MP), and Paul Akamba (Busiki County), spent the night at Kira Police Division.  The three had earlier spent the better half of the day at the CID headquarters for questioning. During his State of the Nation Address, President Yoweri Museveni pledged to crush corruption.…

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa has urged public relations practitioners to use their proficiency to build Uganda’s image and eventually its national ethos. “What is Uganda known for, what are Ugandans known for? We do not have anything which makes us stand out as a country. I want to urge you to use the platforms we have to build a good image of our country,” said Tayebwa. Tayebwa was speaking as the chief guest at the third national symposium for Public Relations Association of Uganda (PRAU), held at Golf Course Hotel Kampala on Friday, 08 June 2024. The…

Police in KMP South and Bwebajja CPS, have arrested two men in connection of a mobile money robbery syndicate. The arrest followed a response to a disturbance call, on June 6, 2024, at around 11pm, from Maria Mbadiremu, a 28 year old, mobile money dealer and shop owner, in Bwebajja cell, after she was attacked and robbed, by a thug armed with a pistol. Mbaridemu was approached by Edrine Bugaya, aged 20, a friend who wanted to withdraw mobile money and during the transaction, at around 11pm, a robber, armed with a pistol, attacked and robbed her approximately Shs 3m…

Police in Kamuli have arrested and charged to court Jjingo Muhammad, a 43 year old, farmer and businessman of Mbulamuti Town Council, in Kamuli district, for the alleged Aggravated Defilement of a 13-year old, primary pupil. The findings gathered indicate that, the victim’s mother had left her daughter at home with a phone to communicate with her while she traveled to Kampala for a business trip. And upon her return on May 31, 2024, the mother found her daughter in possession of Ugx 10,000 (Ten thousand shillings), which she had not left with her. Upon interrogation, she revealed to her…

An aircraft carrying Malawi’s Vice-President Saulos Chilima and nine others has gone missing, a statement from the president’s office has said. The Malawi Defense Force aircraft “went off the radar” after it left the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday morning, it added The president ordered a search and rescue operation after aviation officials were unable to contact the aircraft. It was supposed to land at Mzuzu International Airport, in the country’s north, just after 10:00 local time (09:00 BST). After being told of the incident by the Defence Force’s commander, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera cancelled his flight to the Bahamas, which was scheduled…

Back-to-back expansions in both business activity and new orders resulted in Ugandan firms seeing a further improvement in performance during May with the headline Stanbic Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rising to 54.1 from 52.6 posted in April. Christopher Legilisho, Economist at Stanbic Bank said, “May produced a second successive month of buoyant private sector activity in Uganda. Output and new orders gained from robust consumer demand, referrals, and newly acquired clients. Almost all sectors recorded growth except for agriculture. Ugandan firms increased staffing levels for a fourteenth month now, including both part-time and full-time workers due to increased output. Staffing…