In a disheartening exposé, a Ugandan trader has revealed how her goods, painstakingly procured in China for her business, were systematically looted under the watch of clearing agents and officials from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) at the Liberty Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Namanve.
The incident, which has left her reeling from significant financial losses, underscores the plight of traders navigating a system rife with corruption, inefficiency, and blatant theft.
The ordeal began in August, when the trader, alongside a colleague, traveled to China on a business trip to restock her accessories shop, a venture she has nurtured for over a decade. After enduring long hours of shopping, negotiating, and packing, they entrusted their goods to Marintime Cargo, a shipping company, which provided documentation confirming the receipt of their items.
Upon the goods’ arrival in Uganda in September, they were directed to the Liberty ICD for customs clearance, a process that would become a protracted nightmare.
Upon receiving notification of the goods’ arrival, the trader hired an agent to handle the clearance process. Initial assessments were conducted, and taxes were paid promptly.
However, the trader soon encountered dubious practices that raised questions about the integrity of the entire process. After making the required payments, she was informed of additional “top-up” tax demands, which, though unusual, she begrudgingly paid to expedite the release of her merchandise.
What unfolded next was nothing short of shocking. The trader discovered that the goods had been tampered with under the guise of “sampling” by officials from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and URA.
Although sampling is a standard practice to ensure compliance with import regulations, the term has allegedly been co-opted to conceal theft. When the trader’s goods were finally delivered to her shop in Ntinda on November 1, the contents of the boxes were barely recognizable. What should have been neatly packed merchandise was instead a sad assortment of items, with many high-value products missing.
A review of video footage from the Liberty ICD revealed workers brazenly removing items under the apparent watch of URA staff, clearing agents, and other depot employees. One worker, when questioned by police, admitted he had acted on orders from superiors, who instructed him to remove specific goods from the verification bay.
The trader recounted an instance where a URA official casually admitted to taking a bag from her consignment for his niece. Such admissions, paired with the impunity exhibited by other actors involved, paint a grim picture of the systemic corruption at play.
Efforts to seek redress have been met with indifference. The trader approached several commissioners within URA, wrote letters, and pleaded for an audience, only to be met with dismissive responses. She reported the matter to police, where a worker implicated in the theft was briefly held but later released. Visits to the Liberty ICD yielded little progress, with officials suggesting compensation plans or offering to procure replacements from China, further entrenching their culpability.
The trader also recorded incriminating conversations, including a damning admission from a Liberty ICD worker named Ambrose, who acknowledged the theft but balked at reimbursing the trader for the full value of her stolen goods. In another instance, her clearing agent, identified as Robert, callously dismissed the matter, referring to the perpetrators as “ordinary people” who lacked the means to compensate her.
The entire episode has left the trader, and undoubtedly many others, grappling with significant financial losses and an overwhelming sense of helplessness. “Why have we normalized this?” she lamented, highlighting the entrenched nature of theft in customs clearance processes. “Who is responsible for our goods when they come into these spaces?”
Her case is emblematic of a broader crisis affecting traders in Uganda, who frequently face theft, delays, and extortion at the hands of individuals entrusted to facilitate smooth customs processes. Despite paying taxes, storage fees, and other charges, traders are often left to bear the brunt of systemic inefficiencies and corruption.
The Liberty ICD and URA officials implicated in the theft have yet to face any meaningful consequences, and the lack of accountability continues to embolden those involved. For traders, the financial repercussions are compounded by the psychological toll of battling a system seemingly designed to exploit them.
The trader’s account, replete with documentation, video evidence, and recorded conversations, is a searing indictment of the institutions charged with safeguarding Uganda’s imports and ensuring compliance with customs regulations. Her appeal for justice, though unlikely to yield immediate results, underscores the urgent need for reform.
As she resumes her business in the face of devastating losses, the trader’s experience serves as a cautionary tale for others navigating Uganda’s treacherous importation process. Without significant systemic change, the cycle of exploitation, theft, and impunity is unlikely to abate, leaving traders to shoulder the burden of a deeply flawed system.
