For a couple of years, Uganda government has been promising to drive the country into middle income status by 2020 and claimed to be making investments aimed at achieving the goal.
Speaking at the Economic summit that is currently happening at Serena Hotel, Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija revealed that with only a month left to enter 2020, he can reliably confirm that some regions have already achieved the vision 2020 goal.
“There are some regions that are not growing but there are others that have already attained the middle-income status,” said Kasaija.
Kasaija said government is effectively using the low revenue collected to fund the country’s huge demands.
“We have very many needs. If I told you the amount of money I need to satisfy all the demands; teachers, doctors pay, oil roads, e.t.c. We want to do all these things, but our income and tax collection is still low,” Kasaija said.
Finance Minister urged Ugandans to stop dodging paying taxes because it is used to their benefit.
“We should pay taxes. If we don’t, we are cheating ourselves because the economy won’t get enough revenue,” he said.
Kasaija narrated how the current regime sacrificed to bring peace to this country hence enabling growth though he admits that economic development is at a low rate.
“Without security, we can’t talk about the economy so “bazzukulu”, remember that because some of us have seen days when there was no sugar, no toothpaste so take security, good governance and accountability as serious issues,” he said.