By Paul Lokol |Moroto.
Uganda is losing billions of shillings due to the act of smuggling goods by Somali nationals running wholesale shops in Moroto, Amudat, and Nakapiripirit.
A one-week survey by this website discovered that these Somali traders are taking advantage of the porous borders between Kenya and Karamoja to smuggle Kenyan products into Uganda.
Their major points of offloading the smuggled items include shops in Moroto, Nakapiripirit, and Amudat.
This was also confirmed by an officer working with the Uganda Revenue Authority Moroto regional office who didn’t want to be named because he’s not authorized to speak to the media. He told this publication that URA loses about 600 million shillings in revenue collection every year due to smuggling in the entire seven districts of Karamoja.
“We don’t have a customs office in Karamoja, and people move freely. Others have even started bringing their vehicles into Uganda through porous borders, bypassing Busia,” he said.
Joseph Lokol, one of the residents, said the Somali traders sneak into Moroto at night using their Fuso lorry and offload in several towns in Karamoja.
“Every week, these Somalis enter Moroto with fully loaded Kenyan products for sale, and they use ungazetted routes,” he said.
Meanwhile, locals in Amudat have raised security concerns over an influx of Somali refugees in Uganda being taken to look after camels of another Somali businessman in Amudat known as Aruna Santur.
They say this compromises the security of the people of Amudat.
