Uganda: Last attempt advocacy on the kerosene tax

Dear All,

I hope you are all keeping well.

As you are all aware, following the reading of the Budget for FY2014/2015, FOWODE organised an anti “Tadooba” tax campaign intended to influence Members of Parliament to reject the reinstated tax proposals on kerosene. We opposed the tax because we believed that the impact would greatly be felt by rural communities especially the women and girls who entirely depend on kerosene for cooking, lighting, taking care of the sick at home and in health centers especially in areas without electricity. Therefore enforcing such a tax on kerosene would increase the burden on those who highly depend on it as a way of life.

We and our partners collected signatures and eventually presented a petition on the tax to the Parliamentary Committee of Finance for consideration. Consequently Members of Parliament on 15th September 2014 scrapped the proposed tax on kerosene and accused the government of being “oblivious to the needs of low-income earners” especially in the country side who depend on kerosene as a way of life. A minority report produced and read by Shadow Minister of Finance Geoffrey Ekanya documented the rationale why it was prudent and noble for Members of Parliament to scrap the tax.

This achievement however was short-lived for FOWODE as the President last week revoked Parliament’s decision to scrap the kerosene tax and sent back three bills among others the Excise Duty Bill 2014 to the floor of Parliament for reconsideration. The Excise Duty bill was rejecting excise duty on some commodities including among others kerosene. The President’s view on taxing kerosene is that government needs taxes from kerosene to finance the Shs15 trillion budget for the 2014/15 financial year. Consequently, the Speaker sent the Bill back to the Finance Committee to respond to the President’s concerns and report back to the house (Parliament) within two weeks. You may also know that nearly all members of the Finance Committee (whose list I am attaching in addition to the one for the Budget Committee) were in support of the kerosene tax. However we have just gathered intelligence that says that there is pressure that the discussion be concluded within the next 2 days as the approval of the Budget is already way behind schedule.

We are coming back to you as partners and colleagues to work with us on some last attempt advocacy with the hope that the MPs can be convinced to once again reject the tax as they had initially done. We are calling on you to SMS or call or email your MP and any others you know or work with today and implore them to reject the tax. I am hopeful that if the MPs are aware that many of us are watching and acting they will take due consideration of our concerns. Please spare a few moments and some credit to contact your MP and any others you know and share this message with others to do the same.

We thank you for your support.

Regards,

Patricia Munabi Babiiha
Executive Director | Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE)
Plot 15 Vubya close | P.O.BOX 7176, Kampala | Tel: +256 414 286 063 | Mob: +256 758 670 002 | Web: www.fowode.org