Ugandan president calls for preventing trading irregularities

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Tuesday that talks are needed to prevent irregularities in trade among member states of the East African Community (EAC).

Museveni made the remarks when meeting a visiting Kenyan delegation for discussions on bilateral trade, according to a statement from the Ugandan State House. The meeting was held after Kenya banned importation of maize and dairy products from Uganda.

The essence of competition consists in a common market, and any business that breaks the rules should cease to exist, Museveni told the meeting, adding that trade irregularities between the two countries be eliminated.

The Kenyan delegation was led by Betty Maina, Kenya’s cabinet secretary of the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, who said that importation of Ugandan maize was banned as a result of toxins and moisture content found in the grain.

“The maize lacked a certain level of dryness (required) by Kenya and East African standards,” she said.

Amelia Kyambadde, Uganda’s minister of trade, industry and cooperatives, said that Uganda will improve the quality of maize exports and Kenya and other EAC member countries need to continue to trade together.

The EAC is an intergovernmental organization composed of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.