URA Clarifies on Sale of Medical Equipment Belonging to Babaana Children of Uganda

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has spoken out on the circumstances leading to the sale of medical equipment belonging to Babaana Children of Uganda.

URA has been ordered to pay Babaana Children of Uganda Shs 1.66 bn after it unlawfully sold off donated medical equipment imported from Switzerland for a specialised clinic. The equipment, worth Shs 1.4bn, was sold for Shs 4m.

However, sources say that the incident happened in 2017 when the goods arrived in Uganda.

The goods stayed in the warehouse for one year, until 2018.

”The goods stayed in URA Warehouse for a YEAR till Dec 2018. Reason for staying in the warehouse is because the taxpayer was completing constructing the medical facility,” URA’s Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs, Robert Kalumba said in a post on X.
Under the law, URA was within the law to auction the goods. Indeed, the goods were auctioned.

However, sources add that there were faults in the process leading to the auctioning. This prompted the taxpayer to complain.

”Those responsible were dismissed when the issue came to light some years back,” Kalumba clarified. ”Goods are tax exempt because they are medical in nature. Customs Staff at the time went ahead to auction the goods on the basis that they had over stayed the statutory warehousing time. The taxpayer complained about the Auction. URA lodged an investigation leading to staff responsible for the auction leaving the institution. URA offered to compensate taxpayers to the tune of 2.5B rising to 2.8B. The taxpayer refused, asking for 22B .Instead, the taxpayer took URA to Court. Court dismissed tax payer claim of 22B awarding them 1.4B plus interest,” added Kalumba.

In an interview with Youth Times, Robert Kalumba, the Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs at the URA, said the matter is closed, and that the Authority will comply.