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Youths during the Arua city Parliament sitting in commemoration of the International Youth day, World Refugee Day and the Day of the African Child. Photo/ Dramadri Federick By Dramadri Federick Arua city Young people in Arua City are calling for tax waivers on
Youths during the Arua city Parliament sitting in commemoration of the International Youth day, World Refugee Day and the Day of the African Child. Photo/ Dramadri Federick
By Dramadri Federick
Arua city
Young people in Arua City are calling for tax waivers on youth-led enterprises and a review of the tax regime to make it easier for unemployed youth to establish and grow sustainable businesses.
The call was made during the Arua City Youth Parliament held to commemorate International Youth Day, alongside the joint commemoration of World Refugee Day and the Day of the African Child, under the theme, “All Youth, All Children, All Communities Matter.”
Moving the motion, Andama Fadil said many youth-led enterprises, including creative businesses and other small ventures, face challenges that limit their ability to grow and contribute to employment. He notes that many of the young people businesses have collapsed due to high taxation and lack of meaningful employment opportunities.
“There’re serious and critical issues pressing the young people and these can only be addressed if we create sustainable, fair business environment”.
Ejotre Abdul Salim, a member of the Youth Parliament, challenged Arua City Council to adopt affirmative measures that give youth-led enterprises special consideration when awarding government tenders, arguing that this could create more opportunities for young people in business. “The Youth-led enterprises need to be given tax incentives”.
Godfrey Anguyo, the Board Chairperson of Reproductive Health Uganda and a former city councilor, called for a comprehensive review of Uganda’s tax laws to create an environment in which businesses can grow and generate more employment opportunities.
“Uganda is one of the countries with the highest tax rates, if you look at West Nile region alone, we have businesses that have not celebrated their birthdays because there are so many taxes and non-taxes which are imposed on these businesses”.
Meanwhile, Matua Job Richard, the Assistant Resident City Commissioner in charge of Arua Central Division, warned that failure to adequately address challenges affecting young people could contribute to instability in society. He called for concerted efforts from government and other stakeholders to respond to youth concerns.
“If you have a society where you have the young people, the youths who are doing badly, I want to tell you that we as society leaders, we as the society members, we have all the responsibility of making them better”
The concerns come amid perceptions that young people face limited opportunities in the city’s employment sector. According to the information presented at the Youth Parliament, 65.4 percent of young people in Arua City perceive the employment system as unfavorable to them, pushing many into informal employment.