Issa Ssekito, the KACITA Spokesperson
Traders under their umbrella body, Kampala Capital Traders Association (KACITA) want special representation in Parliament for manufacturers, traders and logistic operators , arguing that the current lawmakers haven’t ably represented the business community, due to the regressive laws that have crippled the business community.
The proposal was made by Jjemba Kanakulya Mulondo, Deputy Spokesperson, KACITA while appearing before Parliament’s Trade Committee where the Association was tabling their petition on the hardships the business community in Uganda is facing.
During the submission, KACITA requested a special representation in Parliament so that their views and concerns are prioritized, arguing that the business community has been facing many challenges like unfavourable laws that comes from Government which hinders business growth on time intervention.
“That is why we are emphasising that there is need to have at least one manufacturer , trading community and logistic side at EAC level. At the same time we are saying, can we have the same from each of the three sectors as mentioned. The reason is that not many have represented us ably, if we are getting regressive laws, that means we haven’t been represented ably,” said Kanakulya.
Asked why the need to expand Parliament further when there are complaints of the bloated parliament that has increased cost of administration, Kanakulya called for the slimming of Parliament from 529 MPs to 250 MPs in Parliament and within the slimmed number, there is need to have representation from the business community.
He added: “I have been on the forefront of calling on Government to present a bill on the floor of parliament of reducing the number of MPs. Can we say we need a manufacturer purposely to represent manufacturers? There is need to reduce the numbers in Parliament from 529 to 250 and within these, we need a representation from manufacturers, trading community and logistics.”
Issa Ssekito, the KACITA Spokesperson called on Government to expedite the repair and revamping of railway transport, saying the traders are grappling with the high costs of transportation of goods through road and air, which has forced them to increase prices of commodities so as to stay afloat.
“The government can also consider Non Tax Incentives to promote and boost businesses. This can be done through recapitalizing air cargo, improving our railway transport, providing cheap and affordable loans. According to our research, Uganda makes a loss of Shs500m daily in jam the government can also concentrate on infrastructural improvement like the Uganda railway because of its triple capacity to carry more passengers, reduce on raw material importation costs instead of using trucks that consume a lot of fuel this will reduce pressure on fuel prices,” said Ssekito.
