Car dealers in Uganda are asking Parliament to block a proposed law that will stop the importation of cars that are more than eight years old.
Speaking in an interview, Marvin Ayebale, the secretary general of Associated Motor Dealers noted that its members had petitioned parliament on Wednesday saying a ban would create greater demand and lower the supply of cars available to consumers.
“The population is not financially ready for the proposal,” Ayebale said, adding that many Ugandans will be driven out of business if the Traffic and Road Safety Act 1998 (Amendment) Bill, 2018 is passed into law.
At the same time the bill proposes that importers of cars that were manufactured five years ago or more would have to pay an environment tax. Heavy vehicles such as breakdown lorries, crane lorries, road sweeper lorries, fire fighting vehicles, concrete mixer lorries, spraying lorries, mobile workshops and forklifts among others would be exempted.
“We are with government on the intentions of this bill but disagree on the approach. We propose gradual phasing out of these vehicles starting with a 15-year threshold. We need to be prepared,” said Ayebale earlier before meeting the Members of Parliament.
The Uganda Revenue Authority is yet to comment on how this will affect revenue collection since used cars contribute to a large portion to the national purse.
