MPs kick out URA team over Akol’s absence
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General, Doris Akol
What you need to know:
- The lawmaker insisted that he has been falsely accused of being harsh and that he wants to accord a fair hearing to URA.
Officials from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) were Tuesday afternoon kicked out of an accountability committee of Parliament after they turned up without the Commissioner General, Doris Akol.
The House Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises chaired by Kawempe South MP Mubarak Munyagwa, was scheduled to receive written responses to Auditor General’s queries for the Financial Year 2013/2014.
Ms Akol is the accounting officer for URA and the law mandates her to respond to the anomalies highlighted in the Auditor General’s report.
The 2014 report raises a number of red flags ranging from under declaration of taxes, uncollected debt and mismanagement of goods impounded by URA officials.
READ:
URA officials quizzed over missing fuel
The committee was scrutinising the Auditor General’s report for Financial Year 2013/14 where it emerged that impounded fuel belonging to Fuelex Company was 9,733 litres less upon release by URA
However, when they turned up, the URA delegation led by Henry Saka, the Commissioner domestic taxes, informed the Committee that Akol had travelled to South Africa on a two weeks trip.
Mr Munyagwa told the URA team that, only the accounting officer, should give answers [and] we have nothing to proceed with, unless Akol shows up. The committee chairperson and members then ordered the team to leave the committee.
“We are dealing with issues involving colossal sums of money, we just can’t afford to sit and have a casual conversation,” Mr Munyagwa explained.
The lawmaker insisted that he has been falsely accused of being harsh and that he wants to accord a fair hearing to URA.
This was a continuation of last week’s meeting in which URA officials failed to explain circumstances under which 9,733 litres of impounded fuel disappeared in their custody.
The officials led by the Commissioner General, Ms Doris Akol, were appearing before Cosase.
According to the Auditor General’s report, URA seized 110,481 litres of petrol on May 30, 2006. The report adds that due taxes and penalties worth Shs93.9m were assessed and paid by the tax payer. But on the day of collecting the fuel, it was established that it was less.
Consequently, a sum of Shs63.3m was agreed and paid to the owner as compensation. The point of concern was that whereas taxes were collected at a rate of Shs850 per litre, compensation was at a higher rate of Shs6,508.72 per litre.
