Tom Magumba
24 January 2008
Kampala — The revenue bodies of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a memorandum of understanding to start joint operations in a move to stamp out illicit trade transactions across their common border.
DRC Deputy Commissioner for Customs Samuel Semeni said the move would help in harmonising custom relations and trade along the 400-kilometre boarder where both countries have been losing out on revenue because of its size and insufficient resources.
"This is a positive move for us. We have had a hell of custom challenges handling smugglers over the years" he said, at the signing in Kampala on January 21.
Traders especially from the west Nile district of Arua have largely flourished in their illicit trade because of the weak customs checks at the border with the DRC.
URA Commissioner for Customs Peter Malinga said the MOU specifies a number of cooperation areas like exchange of information on trade transactions and border surveillance.
Lost revenue
Without disclosing how much the tax body loses, he said a "significant amount of revenue" is lost annually from smugglers of sugar, paraffin, vehicles and clothes, among others.
"We shall deploy an enforcement team, more contact and check points jointly to tackle this problem more strategically," he said.
The URA Commissioner General, Ms Allen Kagina, said while the MOU would make trading transactions easier, there were other pending problems that need to be urgently addressed by both governments.
She cited the issue of language in particular and the differences in procedures used in handling Customs issues that many traders find difficult to adjust to. French is the official language in the DRC while Ugandans communicate in English.
"Revenue experts must urgently consider these issues to improve on efficiency and expediting trade dealings at the boarder," she said. She said the success of their operations would largely depend on implementing and taking action on smugglers.
Ms Kagina explained that both countries had common problems hence the need to cooperate in their operations. Similar operations already exist at Uganda's with Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Sudan.
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