Thursday, July 7, 2011

‘I’m not bothered,’ Museveni on depreciating shilling

Speaking in Kampala at the launch of his wife Janet Kataha Museveni’s autobiography, My Life’s Journey, on Wednesday, President Museveni took a dig at those who rely on imported food stuffs and said he has little concern over currency fluctuations.

“For me I only eat traditional food. I don’t change,” he said. “When you have problems of imported food, for me am not bothered…I am not concerned because all the food am eating is local.”

The President’s comments will not offer any solace to traders and consumers of imported food and comes on the heels of a two day strike which entered its second day today. Mr Museveni said his menu is limited to homegrown food, something that cushions him from the vagaries of global currency wars.

Mr Museveni said that while he has heard the cries of his countrymen who say, “The dollar has gone up so what shall we eat?”, he is not bothered by the recent spikes in the dollar exchange rates.

The traders closed their businesses in protest at the rapid loss of value in the shilling, unfair competition and an apparent increase in the fee for trading licenses. The traders say they are also troubled because they pay taxes on imports to the country’s tax body in dollars rather than in shillings, exposing them to the swings in exchange rates.

How did we get to this? Oh, i know...YOU voted wisely! KUDOZ!

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