‘Levying toll fees at Kampala- Entebbe Express Highway is double taxation,” says MP Sebamala

Motorists using the Entebbe expressway are required to pay toll fees. Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has pledged in turn use the toll fees collected to pay back the operator for operations and maintenance of the road and to repay the loan from China Exim Bank for construction of the road.

The toll fees are paid by use of either cash or electronic card. The toll fees shall be valid for a period of one year from the commencement date for tolling, and government through the Ministry of Works and Transport shall review and adjust the rates if necessary, based on the prevailing circumstances.

Motorcycles with more than 400cc and not boda bodas will pay shs3,000, light vehicles shs5,000, medium goods vehicles(2-3axles) shs10,000, large goods vehicles and buses(4-5 axles) shs15,000 whereas large goods vehicles will pay shs18,000.”

These fees have attracted serious reactions from members of the public and leaders with complaints on why the government chose this form of taxation.

While discussing matters of public interest on CBS radio ‘Kiriza oba gaana” program, the Bukoto Central Legislator Eng. Richard Sebamala said the government decision to Levy toll fees at Kampala-Entebbe express highway is double taxation which needs to be revised.

“During the late 1990s and 2000s, there was a road toll at Lukaya along Masaka– Kampala road where motorists used to pay toll fees from, but such forms of direct taxation where scrapped and re-introduced as Value Added Tax (VAT) and such road tolls were removed.”

Value added Tax is an indirect tax levied on goods and services repeatedly at every point of sale at which value has been added.

The Kampala Entebbe expressway was built in 2018 at a cost $476 million loan from the china’s EXIM bank which is payable per a 40 year period.

Ugandans pay taxes on each and every commodity bought and this is how the government has always collected taxes to facilitate the National budget.

The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway connects the Northern Bypass at Busega to Entebbe International Airport with four interchanges at Busega, Kajjansi, Mpala and Lweza but also features 19 overbridges and 18 underpasses to provide access to the area around the road.

The only categories of vehicles exempted from paying the tolls according o the road act include the Presidential convoy, Ambulances and fire brigade trucks.