Minister Mao set to wed longtime fiancée Beatrice

The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Norbert Mao, is set to tie the knot with his longtime fiancée, Beatrice Kayanja. The development was confirmed by Mao, who posted about how the friends of his fiancée planned her bridal shower. However, the minister did not reveal exactly when the wedding will happen, but we […]

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DRC coup leader filmed himself before his death

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Halimah Nakaayi sets new 800m national record in Los Angeles

Uganda’s middle distance runner Halimah Nakaayi set a new national record in the Women’s 800 meters at the World Athletics Continental Tour event in Los Angeles on Saturday. The 2019 World Champion from Uganda clocked an impressive 1:57.56, narrowly surpassing her previous record of 1:57.62 set at the Anniversary Games in London on July 23, […]

UPDF captures suspected ADF explosive expert

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) have captured one of the commanders of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group in DR Congo. In a statement released on Sunday, Maj. Bilal Katamba, the Public Information Officer for the UPDF Mountain Division/Operation Shujaa, described the suspect, […]

Iranian President Raisi: A hardliner on morality, protests and nuclear talks

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IGG reviews petition against appointment of new Unbs boss

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URA impounds over 1,000 jerricans of smuggled cooking oil

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) confiscated over 1,000 jerrycans containing cooking oil declared as destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo but instead found diverted to Nalukolngo, Rubaga Division in Kampala.

The jerrycans were retrieved from a truck, registration number UBE591X/UAR571C. The truck diverted to Nalukolongo in the disguise of parking, according to URA. The revenue body used the incident to describe the commonest forms of smuggling used to evade taxes.

It takes on many forms, including under-declaration, where the importer declares less quantity than the actual goods being imported; round-tripping, where goods are taken to a neighbouring country and returned through porous borders; misclassification, where goods are declared under a different class of imports, particularly to attract lower rates of tax with the intent to reduce the tax liability; among others.

Another common form of smuggling is dumping, where individuals transporting goods through foreign borders don’t wait to reach the destination but instead manoeuvre around the system and sell them within the country of transit. This was allegedly the case with the Nalukolngo incident.

The central monitoring center (CMC) tracking team at the URA was alerted about the tampered seals. This alert was cascaded to the rapid response unit, which located the truck and found both the electronic and metallic seals broken and some goods offloaded.

"The driver and off-loaders escaped to the nearby bushes, abandoning the truck and empty jerrycans of cooking oil," explained URA.

The truck was towed to the URA headquarters in Nakawa, where thorough verification revealed four empty jerrycans of cooking oil, nine that had been half-emptied, and over 1,000 that had broken seals awaiting emptying.

The Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) allows for tracking transit goods for revenue authorities in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan on a single platform, with Burundi joining soon.

Once transit goods are released from the port, they are equipped with RECTS seals, which enable real-time visibility at CMC. This centre handles and responds to any security warnings generated by the seals.

The items are tracked all the way to their destination thanks to cooperation among the partner states. This has been effective in managing goods in transit, significantly enhancing goods accountability, and reducing cargo transit time.

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Eddy Kenzo, Nameless to headline June Blankets and Wine edition

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Myco Chris returns with Wendi

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