By Spy Uganda.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni today Thursday 4th 2020 has warned landlords not to evict tenants who have not yet cleared rent due to the current COVID-19 pandemic while delivering televised state of nation address.
On the same address President highlighted achievements registered in the current financial year and plans for 2020/21 financial year revealing that atleast Ugandan’s production of coffee has increased from 4 million, 60kgs bags, to 7 million bags.
He added its only agriculture that needs to tell where more guidance is needed to ensure that coffee gives the big size berries, known as screen 18, etc. “We shall sensitize our people and they will do it correctly as we mobilized them for war and they did or recently for corona-virus and they are doing it.” President said.
Museveni further noted that Uganda is already self-sufficient in cement, exporting worth US$57million as of 2019, a decline from US$103million exported in 2013, he added that due to the increased internal usage of cement on account of the heavy infrastructure investments, the government is undertaking the growth in the real estate sector.
In other achievements, Uganda currently produce 289,183 metric tonnes of recycled steel leading to US$110 millions as earnings from exporting steel products.
Basing on the above achievement, Museveni promised that government is in the process of developing vertically integrated steel industry from the previous iron-ore (obutare) at Usukuru in Tororo, Muko in Rubaanda and Butogota in Kanungu to gain in the growing global steel industry which is US$2.5trillion.
President however guided that although we are making steel products using recycled scrap, strong structures like dams need fresh and alloyed steel that we are still importing. We end up using US$444.619millions for this imported higher quality steel products.
Commenting on the current lockdown situation museveni said the government is mobolising some funds which will be modified to deal with the categories of people that have been affected by the lockdown.
He added that among those categories targeted are boda-boda riders, the salon operators, the bars people, the nightclubs people, the artists, etc. adding that these funds can be used, at low interest, for these categories of people to, possibly, do other activities.
“A team from Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) has looked at the budget and suggested ways of savings that can save as much as Shs.5 trillion from the budget that can do all those efforts mentioned above.” President said.
President also revealed that Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development is proposing to provide liquidity to private firms that have been affected by the COVI-19 Lockdown by allowing corporations.
Among the coporations, there will be small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to delay payment of corporation tax or presumptive tax for taxes due between April and June 2020 and for tourism, manufacturing, horticulture and floriculture to defer until September 2020.
