Legislators worried about high cost of essential commodities

PARLIAMENT, UGANDA: The high costs of essential household commodities are worrying and Members of Parliament want Government to take action and stall rising prices.

Kampala Central Member of Parliament, Hon Mohammed Nsereko said the concerns of high fuel prices have now shifted to the increased prices of soap, detergents and sugar among other household commodities.

He said that that a bar of soap has increased to shs9000 with sugar surpassing it’s normal market price.
“When we talked of fuel prices, government assured us of a comprehensive report on monitoring mechanisms that will deter fuel dealers from hiking the prices. It is a month now but we do not see any change,” Nsereko said.

Nsereko added that much as the price of household commodities is going up, the remuneration of workers like teachers has not improving.
He tasked the Ministry of Finance to tell the country what plans it has for the short run to check on these soaring prices.
“Aware that people are struggling with loan payments, what is government doing to address this issue of inflation on basic commodities? Do we reduce the taxes?” Nsereko asked.

Tororo District Woman MP, Hon Hon Sarah Opendi said the Uganda Bureau of Statistics indicated that prices of soap and other detergent had gone by 85 per cent.
She added that some manufacturers of these product blame government for imposing an import duty on the raw materials used to produce soap and detergents at 10 per cent where there was previously no tax on such materials.
“Some experts say that the crude oil we have in Uganda is not sufficient enough to facilitate soap prediction. The Finance Minister should tell us what we can do, should we do away with import duty?” queried Opendi.

Hon Maurice Kibalya (NRM, Bugaluba County South) said farmers in rural areas are failing to progress effectively due to taxes on agricultural inputs.
“We have a policy that agricultural inputs are not taxed but we have seen the price of fertilizers multiply by four. DAP used for maize was at shs1000 but is now at shs6000,” Kibalya said.

Hon Cecilia Ogwal (FDC, Dokolo District) recommended that Parliament’s Committees of Trade and Finance engage its experts to analyze the causes of inflation and guide the House and Government, accordingly.