By Onyango Jackson
Statistics from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) show there is a progressive decline in the export volume of fish maws which has impacted the value earned from the exports.
The commissioner for customs at the Authority, Mr Abel Kagumire says there could be a relation with the 8 percent tax Levy the government imposed on the export volumes.
Figures show that the export volumes dropped from the highs of 700,000 kilograms exported in the financial year 2019/20 to as low as 300,000 kilograms in the last financial year.
However, the tax value increased to a never-experienced level as the country earned 9 billion shillings last financial year compared to the 520 million earned a year before the tax was introduced in 2021.
Members of Parliament from the fishing communities say this is a sign of how the fishermen and traders in the business were being squeezed hard to pay the tax.
Petitioners against the tax have called for a reduction to at least 4%.
