{Most traders welcomed the President\u2019s directive, saying it will give more Ugandan traders the opportunity to \u201cshine\u201d.}<\/p>\n
Traders, employers, labour unions and politicians yesterday cheered President Museveni\u2019s order on foreigners in retail trade and observed that the \u201cimportation of importers\u201d had distorted the economy, worsened unemployment and poverty levels.<\/p>\n
According to Mr Everest Kayondo, the chairperson of Kampala City Traders Association (Kacita), his members, especially from major towns across the country, have previously petitioned authorities over the influx of foreigners in retail business but were not helped.<\/p>\n
He also explained that \u201cthe importation of importers\u201d is partly responsible for turning Uganda into what President Museveni previously called a \u201csupermarket of foreign products\u201d.<\/p>\n
Chance for Ugandans
\n\u201cWe have no problem with the foreigners coming to do business in the country, but they must be manufacturers, not retailers. We want the whole value chain to be done in Uganda so that our people can get jobs. Let them consume our water, food and electricity. This will create wealth for our country,\u201d Mr Kayondo said.<\/p>\n
While Kacita and other private sector leaders called the presidential directive \u2018a catalyst for economic growth and job creation\u2019, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago derided the
\ndecision as \u201ca knee-jerk reaction to a complicated problem.\u201d
\n\u201cDo we have a policy and legal framework to address that matter?\u201d he asked, adding that \u201cIt could be a public relations stunt intended to divert public attention on the bailout scam.\u201d
\n\u201cIf he is concerned about the exploitation of the local business community, how come he is not pushing for the enforcement of the Rent Restriction Act, whose purpose was to check the arbitrary increase of commercial rent by property owners?\u201d<\/p>\n
The President\u2019s directive
\nAddressing the social economic transformation obstacles during the on-going Cabinet retreat in Kyankwanzi on Tuesday, Mr Museveni applauded Ugandans for welcoming more than 600,000 African refugees and singled out Chinese and Indians in retailing business, whom he accused of unfairly competing with local traders and other African immigrants.
\n\u201cIt is not correct for the regulators not to take action against the Chinese and Indian retailers who unfairly compete against our retailers,\u201d Mr Museveni said.<\/p>\n
The President said foreigners should not operate at \u201cterminal level\u201d and instructed the relevant government ministry to ensure that they are re-directed to manufacturing and construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cRetailing should be preserved for the Ugandans or, possibly, the other African immigrants as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Sudhir Ruparelia, the founder of Ruparelia Group, one of Uganda\u2019s largest conglomerates and a member of Federation of Uganda Employers, also backed the presidential directive. He said the ministry of Trade should work with immigration and Uganda Investment Authority \u201cto tighten the rules of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Information and ICT minister Frank Tumwebaze said the new presidential directive seeks to protect local jobs, attract foreign direct investments and fight dumping of inferior goods.
\nHe explained that ministry of Trade and industry, in conjunction with immigration directorate and Uganda Investment Authority, \u201cwill come up with a policy instrument to provide for regulatory framework.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will have to be harmonised with existing immigration policies on work eligibility for foreigners,\u201d Mr Tumwebaze said.<\/p>\n
Asked how Chinese and Indians come to be retailers, the Internal Affairs ministry spokesperson, Mr Jacob Siminyu, referred this newspaper to Section 10 of Investment Code. Without explaining how the code has affected the monitoring of the foreigners doing business in the country, he also pointed out that the code requires any foreign investor to have $100,000 (about Shs338m) to invest in any type of business, subject to Section 10(2), which states that an investor may engage in any type of business enterprise.<\/p>\n
Section 10 (5) reads: \u201cA foreign investor who is intending to engage in trade shall \u2014 (1) incorporate a company with the Registrar General as is required by law; deposit a sum of $100,000 or its equivalent in Uganda shillings at the Bank of Uganda, which shall be specifically used for importation or direct purchase of goods for the business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Wilson Usher Owere, the chairman of National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU), said Investment Code needs to be amended to ring-fence retail businesses for Ugandans. He explained that \u201cthe influx of (foreign) retailers, doing business in Kikuubo (downtown Kampala) and in major towns across the country, had pushed many Ugandans out of business.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt (directive) will help us to protect the jobs in informal and formal sectors, especially construction where unskilled labour force are brought from China and India,\u201d Mr Owere said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{Most traders welcomed the President\u2019s directive, saying it will give more Ugandan traders the opportunity to \u201cshine\u201d.} Traders, employers, labour unions and politicians yesterday cheered President Museveni\u2019s order on foreigners in retail trade and observed that the \u201cimportation of importers\u201d had distorted the economy, worsened unemployment and poverty levels. According to Mr Everest Kayondo, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99],"byline":[2481],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-27279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-daily-monitor"],"bylines":[{"id":2481,"name":"DAILY MONITOR","slug":"daily-monitor","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2481,"name":"DAILY MONITOR","slug":"daily-monitor","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27279"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=27279"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=27279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}