Nzeyi re-elected as UMA board chair, outlines top priorities
Mr Amos Nzeyi shares a light moment after the meeting. One of the issues Nzeyi hopes to handle during his reign is the ban on kaveera. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
His view. Nzeyi said 15 firms which recycle plastics bags should be protected from the ban.
KAMPALA. Reduction of power prices, fair taxes, and sorting out the plastic bags issues will be Mr Amos Nzeyi’s main tasks in his second and last two-year term at the helm of Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA).
Speaking in an interview after being re-elected as the chairman of UMA, last week at Lugogo, Mr Nzeyi said: “Power is the engine of industries and if it is too expensive then it raises the cost of doing business. We also do not want to see investors relocate elsewhere because of unfair tax regime and we have to sort out the grey areas around Kaveera—these will be my priorities in my second term.”
He said some breweries are already relocating to Kenya where they manufacture from and then import here, something he said is costly in terms of depriving Ugandans jobs and revenue for government.
On the plastic bags, he said there are 15 firms that recycle plastic bags and therefore need to be protected in the wake of the blanket ban on plastic packaging bags by the government.
“We are going to discuss all that with President Museveni with a view to sort out these problems once and for all,” Mr Nzeyi said before heading to State House Entebbe to meet the President.
According to the executive director of Uganda Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Mr Gideon Badagawa, who also once served as the executive director of UMA, said Mr Nzeyi’s immediate task is to strengthen the association further and ensure that it doesn’t lose its bargaining power, considering that it is one of the strongest business associations in the country.
He also advised that Mr Nzeyi should push for legal reforms, development of standards, embracing of technology and exploring for external markets.
About Amos Nzeyi’s
Predecessor. Mr Amos Nzeyi took over from Mr Kaddu Kiberu two years ago.
