Museveni summons NRM MPs over social media tax

Questioned. President Museveni with NRM female MPs after a meeting at State House Entebbe on July 17, 2018. PPU PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Mr John Baptist Nambeshe, the Manjiya County MP, said he would not attend the caucus, saying he does not want to be embarrassed.
  • Parliament had also lined up the minister for Internal Affairs to explain about SIM card registration. Many Ugandans believe the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) registers SIM cards.

KAMPALA. President Museveni on Wednesday summoned the National Resistance Movement (NRM) parliamentary caucus to State House Entebbe to further justify the need for social media tax.
Mr Museveni, who had earlier signed into law the one per cent charge on all Mobile Money transactions, has since rescinded the decision and said it should be at 0.5 per cent.

His change of heart came after a large section of the public, a potential voting pool, argued that it was tantamount to double taxation.
Mr Museveni then talked Cabinet into supporting the revision but was yet to talk to the NRM Members of Parliament who are the majority in the Tenth Parliament.
Parliament would have to vote on the Excise Duty Amendment Bill for the revision to be backed by the law.

Daily Monitor’s attempts to contact the caucus chairperson, Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, and the vice chairperson, Mr Solomon Silwany, were futile.
Mr John Baptist Nambeshe, the Manjiya County MP, said he would not attend the caucus, saying he does not want to be embarrassed.
In the past, he and other rebel NRM MPs have been asked by Mr Museveni to leave the caucus meeting because they did not agree with his stand.
The impromptu caucus ate into Parliament’s Wednesday programme.
The Security minister, Gen Elly Tumwine, was yesterday expected to explain to MPs how Internal Security Organisation operatives raided the data centre of telecom company MTN in an attempt to access the company’s servers.

Affected business
Parliament had also lined up the minister for Internal Affairs to explain about SIM card registration. Many Ugandans believe the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) registers SIM cards.
The belief is reinforced by telecom’s companies’ requirement that whoever wants his or her SIM card registered, must present his or her original national ID, which is issued by NIRA, to register their SIM cards.
In case one does not have an ID, the telecom company does not activate their SIM cards. NIRA has clarified saying that it is not its role to register SIM cards.

“What the telecom service providers require us to do is verify or to validate information on the persons who are either applying for new SIM cards or who are looking to replace lost SIM cards,” NIRA’s manager corporate affairs and public relations Gilbert Kadilo said recently.