Day: May 5, 2023

The Constitutional Court in Kampala has repealed the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2015 which among others prohibited the sale and use of several narcotic drugs in the country. “In the premises, I would declare the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2015 null and void for lack of quorum on the part of parliament contrary to articles 88 and 89 of the Constitution and rule 23 of the Rules of Procedure of the 9th parliament ,2012 made, pursuant to articles 88 and 94 of the Constitution,” Justice Muzamiru Mutangula Kibeedi said in a lead judgement. The decision followed a petition by farmers of miraa against the law that described the crop as a narcotic drug and consequently banned it in the country. In the 2017 petition, the farmers of the cr...

Legislators have approved a tax on diapers and rejected a proposal to exempt payment of taxes on adult diapers. This was contained in the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which the lawmakers passed on Thursday, 04 May 2023. The Bill proposed an exemption on payment of tax on adult diapers but the Members of Parliament put up a spirited fight against the proposal. Efforts by the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Jane Pacutho and the Minister of State for Finance, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi to convince MPs to exempt payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) on adult diapers were resisted. While presenting the committee’s report, Pacutho stated that the exemption was premised on medical reasons. “The committee observed that diapers are not bio-degra...

Parliament has passed the Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which will revise the existing tax of 20 per cent under the existing law to 30 per cent for gaming activities. Clause 48(1) of the Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016 states that ‘an operator of a casino, gaming or betting activity issued with a license under this Act shall, in addition to taxes prescribed by law, pay a gaming tax at the rate prescribed in Schedule 4’. Schedule 4 of the existing law prescribes the rate of tax as 20 per cent of the total amount of money staked, less the payouts/winnings, for the period of filing returns. While presenting a report on the Bill on Thursday, 04 May 2023, the Deputy Chairperson of the Finance Committee, Hon. Jane Pacutho said the 20 per cent tax rate will be maintained on sports b...

There was drama in the August House Wednesday afternoon as female Members of Parliament recounted their arrests last week. The 11 MPs stormed out of the House last week and started a procession to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to deliver a petition over the manner in which Women’s Day celebrations in their respective constituencies were disrupted brutally. However, they were intercepted and brutally arrested before they were detained at the CPS in Kampala. While recounting her arrest, Hoima City Member of Parliament, Asinansi Nyakato, nearly pulled out her boobs for colleagues MPs to see for themselves the impact of the brutal arrests meted on them. They nearly went away with my boob, she said, attempting to unbutton her gomesi. Male MPs shouted ”Eei Eei Eei” soon after they noticed Nya...