President Museveni on Wednesday urged the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to use advanced technology in order to not to be cheated while collecting taxes.
While celebrating both his 77th birthday and 30 years of URAs existence, Museveni who was in company of his wife and Minister of Education, Janet Kataha Museveni, said that government will have to borrow alot of money since URA collected 19 trillion yet the money to be collected approved by Parliament was 42 trillion .
“If you have collected 19 trillion and your budget that was approved by parliament is 42 trillion that means u must borrow internally, externally another 20 something trillion and your tax money is being stolen by Judas’ here.
The president instructed URA to use x-ray machines in looking at goods inside trucks other than resorting to offloading goods and loading them back on which is a tiresome task that consumes alot of time and man power.
“I got intelligence that there was miss declarations because you have got a lorry of 40 tonnes. How would you know what is inside there”. He said.
Museveni reminiscence on the Kagina days while she was still the URA boss saying that it was impossible for accounting of goods with lorries parked and people physically counting goods.
“There is no way you can unload at the boarder a lorry of 40 tonnes and see what is inside”. He said.
“What you should do, have xrays. Let the vehicles come and park park and the x-rays come and see for you what is inside so that you don’t even have to delay. These x-ray machines will eliminate struggling”. He explained.
The president thanked all those who wished him a happy birthday and joked that he was worried not to reach 100 years because her daughters used to “roast” thier hair instead of leaving it natural but now that they stopped, he is optimistic.
The first lady prayed for URA to widen it’s tax base without oppressing the tax payers of Uganda
