African football fans are keeping up with the World Cup 2022 games from their mobile devices on the back of rapid smartphone penetration, high-speed internet and increased VPN usage on the continent. Doha, Qatar | BIRD AGENCY | Sports content is being democratised in Africa with more bespoke over-the-top (OTT) …
Read More »Uganda internet most expensive in world
Government aware of harm to ICT use and innovations, growth in digital financial services, e-commerce, e-government | THE INDEPENDENT | The cost of internet use in Uganda is the highest in the world, according to research by Surfshark; a cybersecurity company based in the Netherlands that deals in virtual private …
Read More »JULY 1: New taxes on fuel, alcohol and internet kick in
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Users of mobile phones will effective Thursday, July 1, have to pay a 12 per cent Excise Duty on the value of data, airtime and other value-added services they use, each time they top up. The tax which has until now been charged at 20 …
Read More »New tax on internet to trap VPN users – Gov’t
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development says one of the main reasons as to why the government introduced a 12 percent Excise duty on internet use was to trap Ugandans who were evading OTT by using Virtual Private Networks (VPN). The Over the …
Read More »Inside Uganda’s Shs44.7trillion spending plan
Human capital, security and governance take lion’s share of the 2021 national budget | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s newly appointed State Minister for Planning Amos Lugolobi on June.10 unveiled the contents of the 2021/22 national budget to the public. Setting out the government’s tax and spending plans for the year …
Read More »The new digital taxes
The projected revenues may not be realised yet the long-term effects created may be difficult to reverse COMMENT | NATHAN WERE | The Parliament of Uganda recently passed the Excise Duty Amendment Bill, 2021 in which new taxes were introduced. One of such tax is on the internet requiring users …
Read More »Kasaija’s tax burden
How to raise money from ideas that failed Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | Finally its May, the month in which parliament as the Committee of Supply debates and passes the 2021/22 national budget. Unlike in recent years, the focus of debate has shifted from sector allocation to another …
Read More »Gov’t proposes to drop OTT
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government has proposed to abolish the payment of Over the Top Tax (OTT) under the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The Bill scheduled for tabling on the floor of Parliament by the Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija also proposes the re-introduction of excise duty …
Read More »Why Ugandans are still using VPN despite restored access to social media
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Several Ugandans have continued to use the Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), since the government blocked access to the internet on January 13th before partly restoring it on January 18th. On easing the conditions, mobile internet was still highly restricted and the use of VPNs came …
Read More »Museveni’s missing campaign
Why Bobi Wine is surging and what the president can do to stem the tide other than beating him up THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | There is a wave of excitement in favour of Bobi Wine and his bid for the presidency. The recent riots and their …
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