By Andrew Bagala
President Museveni has provided no short term solution to the sky rocketing fuel and food prices that Ugandans are grappling with, saying they would take a narrow path that will lead them to salvation.
In a presidential address last evening, president Museveni said government interventions by cutting taxes or subsidies would mislead the people to recklessly consume commodities thus plunging the economy into more trouble.
“The taxes are there in order to develop. We want to make new roads. We want to make new projects. Now because of that, the projects are stopped and money is spent on eating and driving’”, he said.
He explained that such a move would create artificial comfort for the people.
Commodity prices have shot up and many people can barely live within their income and had hoped for reassurance from the president last night.
But Museveni instead said it is better to buy commodities expensively than facing a shortage.
Hours before Museveni discouraged tax cuts and subsidies, his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta gave Kenyans a stimulus package where he ordered a price ceiling on retailing of two kilograms of maize flour to the equivalent of Shs 3,200.
President Kenyatta also issued reduced prices of cooking gas for a 13kg cylinder to Shs 96,000 and the 6kg to Sh 44,800.
In Uganda, cooking gas prices are higher by Shs 20,000 on the above products.
The Kenyan president also continued to give fuel subsidies to Kenyans and maintained a 15 percent reduction in electricity tariffs for households
