The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) on Thursday announced that Uganda had agreed to slash clearance fees for trucks ferrying potatoes from Kenya.
Initially, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) had without warning to Kenyan traders and truck owners increased the clearance fee from Ksh15,000 to Ksh50,000.
This led to tens of trucks being stranded at the Ugandan-Kenyan border as traders remarked that they could not afford the increased charges.
Long Distance Drivers and Conductors Association (LODDCA) further complained to the Kenyan government that they were incurring daily losses with trucks stuck at the border.
“KNCCI Advocacy desk is happy to report that the clearance fee for trucks carrying potatoes from Kenya to Uganda has been reduced from Ksh50,000 to Ksh25,000 following tireless advocacy efforts in collaboration with our partners,” KNCCI briefed farmers of the development.
“On April 12, the URA unilaterally increased the withholding tax for Kenyan trucks hauling potatoes from USD32 to USD315 which raised the total clearance fee from Ksh15,000 to Ksh50,000.”
At the time, URA had remarked that they had made the exponential increase after realising for far too long the fee had been undervalued.
On May 8, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni added that the increase in taxation of imported consumer goods was a deliberate action from his administration.
He defended increased fees on a variety of agricultural products as a way to protect local farmers.
KNCCI reported that following the developments and utterances from Kampala, they reached out to the State Department of Trade in Kenya and the Uganda Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI).
Specifically, the two bodies addressed the clearance fee for potatoes which was a cause of financial distress to Kenyan farmers and truck operators.
KNCCI in the discussions also agreed with the Local and Transit Drivers Association as well as LODDCA.
“Moving forward we urge governments under the East African Community to respect and uphold the common union tariff of the East African Community (EAC) which aims to promote seamless trade and economic integration among member states,” KNCCI urged.
