Kampala City Traders Association-KACITA is questioning the ongoing licensing of traders by Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA before any assessment is carried out. In March this year, KCCA ordered all city traders to pay their trading license fees by the end of this month or risk having their business closed by the authority.
According to a trading license structure issued by KCCA spare parts and mobile dealers are required to pay shillings 130,000, legal firms shillings 200,000 while tour and travel companies pays shillings 180,000. But KACITA argues that the authority cannot carry effectively license traders without assessing their businesses.
Everest Kayondo, KACITA chairperson insists the authority must asses businesses before issuing them with trade licenses. He warns to mobilize city traders to resist paying the trading license unless their businesses are assessed by KCCA. Sulaiman Kiweewa, a spare parts car dealer at BK Plaza advises KACITA to negotiate KCCA instead of mobilizing traders to boycott paying the trading license fees. Kiweewa says that he is worried about the threats by KCCA to mobilize them to strike because his business will be closed yet it is his only source of income.
It is not yet clear, how many traders are yet to pay the trading license fees. Phoebe Lutaaya, the KCCA director in charge of revenue collection says they have been getting personal assessment forms from traders before issuing them with trading license. She says that the revenue collection is ongoing, and whoever does not pay the trading fees that their businesses will be closed.
