Uganda: Small farmers pay their dues
Reporter: Wambi Michael
Duration: 00:04:
Sfx: busy market – Jinja
Studio cue
Local authorities in Uganda collect taxes which are then used to pay for improvements to the local area. One such tax is a fee paid by farmers and traders who want to sell their goods at markets. Known locally as empoza, it’s resented by many poorer traders who feel they don’t always get value for money. Wambi Michael spoke to traders at Amber Court Market in Jinja.
Reporter Wambi Michael:It’s about six o clock in the morning here at Amber Court market in Jinja. I am seeing three trucks loaded with vegetables and fresh fruits coming all the way from Budondo.
Women and men are here busy offloading the goods from the trucks but the taxman is already waiting down to charge these ladies the local tax, commonly known as empoza. Empoza is a form of market due paid by traders before they can sell their goods in the market
Yeah we are seeing you here collecting taxes, what is this type of tax you are collecting?
Tax collector: It is called the market revenue
Q: Is it the same as empoza?
A: Yeah it is the same, we collect it due to – like – a bag of cabbage we collect it – 500 – and a bag of maize they pay 500
Q: And what do you use the tax for?
A: The tax we take it to the council
Q: Are there some who dodge the tax?
A: Yes, there are some
Reporter Wambi Michael:Many people here always complain that the dues are too high and find it affects their incomes. I’m going to talk to Daniel Kitimbo – one of the traders here who has brought vegetables all the way from Budondo – to find out how the tax is hurting his business.
Daniel Kitimbo: I am vegetable farmer and I have brought vegetablesto this market of ours at Amber court. We as farmers this tax affects us too much. At this time, I have brought vegetables like spinach and amaranth. But with the current rain there are plenty of vegetables for sale so the price is even lower but the tax doesn’t not change So we lose out . If we come to the market late we find many customers have already bought so at time even when I pay tax, we sell the vegetables them at much lower price and that affects us a lot.
Reporter Wambi Michael:Taxes like these collected at Amber Court market go to the local government as local revenue used to build roads and other infrastructure.
But Everiste Twimukye, a senior fellow with the Economic Policy Research Centre says another problem is that traders often do not even understand what their money is being spent on..
Everist Twimukye: Of course when you look at the type of traders you are talking about, they are usually very poor traders, he just has a bunch of bananas on a bicycle, so sometimes it’s disruptive and two, because it’s not very clear to them where this money is going. So until these people know exactly whether these taxes are mandatory or where they go, then traders will just look at these, the same way they look at bribes.
Reporter Wambi Michael:What should these taxes be doing for a common person like that?
For a common person certainly these taxes they are supposed to be working on problems that are usually handled at local level – community roads for example which are not supposed to be done by central government
Reporter Wambi Michael: Back at Amber Court market I talked to a trader about the state of the roads near the market
Trader Robert Soka: On the rainy season we struggle to come here in the town, the road is bad, very bad, there is holes in the road...they want money for nothing, they do.
Reporter Wambi Michael: Robert Sokawho does not think he is getting value for money... Everist Twimukyebelieves that until people like Robert Soka and Daniel Kitimbo know more about how their empoza is spent, they will continue to see it as no better than a burden.
Everist Twimukye: It’s not a very good tax in sense that it’s not well understood and its misunderstood..I’m not sure the taxpayers actually know where these taxes are going. So I think there should be some sensitisation so that people know where these taxes are going. Otherwise if it’s not done these taxes will just be disruptive to business.