URA spends Shs100m to destroy Shs1.3trln worth of contraband cigarettes
The URA acting Assistant Commissioner for Customs, Geoffrey Okaka, said the Hammer Mill will save them the Shs100m it has been spending on disposing of the illegal cigarettes.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has revealed that it spends Shs100m every six months to destroy confiscated contraband cigarettes at a site in Nakasongola.
This will, however, come to an end after the revenue body received a Hammer Mill donated to them by British American Tobacco (BAT). The Hammer Mill is used to destroy tobacco.
The URA acting Assistant Commissioner for Customs, Geoffrey Okaka, said the Hammer Mill will save them the Shs100m it has been spending on disposing of the illegal cigarettes.
Okaka now wants National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to allow them to use the Hammer Mill in Kampala so that they can save money spent on travels to Nakasongola to destroy the cigarettes.
Okaka said between 2019 to 2022, the URA enforcement teams in Kampala, Elegu, Arua, Madi Opei, Pakwach, Corner Kamdini and other remote stations seized more than 293, 099 cartons of illicit cigarettes.
This was valued at $340, 000 (approx. Shs1, 229, 920, 000).
The major brands intercepted include Supermatch made in Uganda for export, Oris, Dunhill, Business Royal and Sportsman.
The major sources of contraband cigarettes are South Sudan and DR Congo. When seized this cigarettes is stored by URA in their warehouses before it is disposed off.
