Govt asked to use country’s mineral wealth to fund next budget

National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) has demanded that the government utilizes the country’s natural resources to fund the national budget in order to relieve the citizens of the high taxation burden.

Speaking to the media at the party’s head offices in Rubaga on Monday, NEED president, Joseph Kabuleta said Uganda has a variety of natural resources like gold and copper among others that can be exported and the revenue can be utilized to meet the citizenry’s necessities.

He said the reason many Ugandans are still poor, is that there are many high taxes imposed on them in order to facilitate the national budget yet there are alternative sources of revenue that if properly managed can solve the country’s challenges.

According to statistics from the Uganda Export Promotions Board (UEPB) on average Uganda exports gold worth $17.2M, making the commodity the country’s most valuable export.

Meanwhile, Kabuleta has also advised government against giving tax incentives to foreigners since it also affects the country’s growth and development.

Written by Prossy Kisakye