INSIDE TANZANIA, UGANDA DEALS SEALED DURING PRESIDENT SAMIA’S STATE VISIT TO UGANDA

President Samia Suluhu Hassan is briefed by Roofings Group Chairman and Executive Director, Sikander Lalani on operations at the firm’s factory in Kampala yesterday. The firm manufactures steel products, including roofing sheets and pipes.

Kampala - Tanzania has agreed to cut a road toll by about 71 percent on the Uganda-bound cargo trucks as part of the consensus reached during the meeting of leaders of the two countries.

From mid-last year, Tanzania government charged $500 on Ugandan cargo trucks as fees collected for road repairs and maintenance.

Kampala immediately protested and filed a complaint with the East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers accusing Dodoma of breaching the Common Market Protocol by imposing different road user charges to partner states in the same trading bloc. The Common Market is one of the pillars of the seven member regional bloc.

However, starting next financial year, which kicks-off this July, Tanzania will charge $10 per 100km on the cargo trucks plying the 1,485km Mutukula-Dar es Salaam route.

The $10 translates into about $144 for the distance, down from the $500.

While Dodoma had increased the levy on Uganda-bound cargo trucks, it maintained that of $152 charged on Rwanda-bound cargo trucks. Tanzania serves as gateway to the sea to its landlocked neighbours Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Malawi, mainly through the Dar es Salaam port.

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