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SINGAPORE SINGAPORE www.busiweek.com
A F R I C A N
G ardens by the B ay
VOL. 9, ISSUE 5, SEPTEMBER 9 - 15, 2013
INSIDE >> records P.3 >> Uganda Tax surplus
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Ethiopian buses to Ug BY PAUL TENTENA
cement P.12>> Tz makers complain
KAMPALA, UGANDAUg anda’s Pioneer Easy Bus Limited, has signed a deal with Ethiopia’s g over nment heavy duty equipment and bus manufacturing company, FDRE Metals and Engineering Cor por ation, to acquire 400 new buses. Pioneer is presently owned by Atlantis Holdings Limited (1800) and Kenlloyd Lo gistics Ug anda Group of Companies. According to Alber t Mug ang a the Director Pioneer Easy Bus, they are pre paring to resume Kampala city bus services within two weeks. T he company had halted operations following a tax de pute with the Ug anda Revenue Authority (URA). It is not yet clear whether Pioneer has settled their g rievances with URA. However, Mug ang a said the gover nment is still negotiating at the East African Community level to ensure the har monization of the tax re gime. “We expect to resume our
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Rwanda hikes Tz truck tax BY DIAS NYESIGAAND PATRICK KISEMBO Rwanda last week announced that it has from today September 9, increased road toll fees on Tanzanian registered trucks. The new rate is now equivalent to what Rwandan registered trucks have been paying in Tanzania. Rwandan trucks on Tanzanian roads pay $500 (Tsh800, 000). However until the announcement, Tanzania trucks were being charged $152 for using Rwandan roads. “Tanzania-registered trucks will pay the same road fees ($500) as what Rwandan-registered trucks pay in Tanzania to ensure fair treatment,” John Rwangombwa the Rwanda Minister of Finance said last week. Theodore Murenzi, the Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Long Distance Truckers Association said their trucks have been facing a challenge of
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The MOU was signed by Muganga and Lt. Col. Gebremedhin, the General Manager FDRE Metals and Engineering Corporation. It was witnessed by Great Lakes Limited Sales Manager Eriab Ssewagudde, who are the franchise holders of FDRE machinery in Uganda.
Kenyans hit by Burundi VP calls price increases for more effort BY RENOVAT NIMBONA
BY HUMPHREY LILOBA NAIROBI, KENYA— The recently enacted controversial Value Added Tax (VAT) Act took effect last week to the shock of many Kenyans. Prices of basic commodities, initially either zero-rated of lowly taxed items suddenly shot up, after the implementation of the new tax law which has sent the cost of living sharply skywards. Kenya’s parliament last month passed a
Bill that sought to include basic household supplies into the tax net, as the gover nment tries to bridge a huge multi-trillion budget deficit. The passage and implementation of the new tax law has been done against a backdrop of fierce opposition by the Kenyan public, consumer organizations in the country and a section of the non-gover nmental organizations. In effected the new
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BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI—The Burundi Second Vice-President, Dr. Ir. Gervais Rufyikiri, invited communes divisions to take control of their destiny. He was speaking recently during the official opening of the validation workshop of the National Strategy for the Development of Local Economy which took place in Bujumbura. He congratulated the country’s communes for their achievements in ter ms of economic development, but reminded them there was still a long way to go. He also invited communes to take control of their destiny by building schools, health centres and other social infrastructures. Dr. Rufyikiri said the development of the National Strategy for the Development of Local Economy falls in line with the gover nment’s aim for community development.
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