UJanda defends sRciaO Pedia ta[
UGA1DA Ugandan autho rities defended the introducti on of a tax on users of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, saying the revenue is necessary to fund public ser vices.
The daily levy eTuivalent to about 5 U.S. cents is “a small contribution of citizens to wards development of their country,” 0inister of State for Finance David Bahati was Tuoted by the state run Uganda 0edia Centre as saying on Tuesday.
East Africa¶s third biggest economy on Sunday started charging users of platforms that also include :hatsApp and 9iber in a step 3resident <oweri 0useveni has said may bring in as much as . trillion shillings about USD
6 million per year and help bridge a budget deficit. Human rights groups have warned it will stifle free ex pression in a country where more than 2 percent of the population live in poverty. The Uganda Communications Commission, which regulates the industry, has been directed to block access to virtual pri vate networks that some peo ple have used to avoid paying the new tax, Bahati said. Uganda also introduced a percent tax on all mobile mo ney transactions on Sunday. The Uganda Communications Commission UCC has reportedly acTuired new eTuipment to monitor the daily revenues of the telecom companies. 0any Ugandan social media users expressed discontent over the new tax on Twitter. The local Daily Monitor newspaper reported that five “concerned citizens” are among those petitioning the Constitutional Court to annul the levy.
The government on -une presented a 2. trillion shil ling budget for the 2 months through -une 2 , with a projected deficit of 6.2 per cent of gross domestic pro duct. Following the increased rate of cyber related crimes, the UCC in 0ay 2 issued a new ban on illegal airtime and S,0 card sales. 3utting into consideration the new mobile money fraud where S,0 cards are swapped swift ly to endanger unsuspecting victims. UCC¶s new order will see S,0 card registration and airtime transactions made through only the legalized service centers.
(Bloomberg)