Policy Tracker: East Africa
Uganda passes new regressive law on the misuse of social media and hate speech (September 2022)
The President of Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a new legislation to criminalize some activities on the internet. It was on 8 September 2022, that the Parliament of Uganda passed this new law criminalizing various uses of the internet and digital technologies and largely restraining some digital rights. The new bill was tabled by Kampala Central Member of Parliament Muhammad Nsereko and passed by Parliament of Uganda in September as stated above.
Some of the stipulations of this regressive law (Computer Misuse Amendment Bill 2022) includes but is not limited to: the prohibition of the misuse of social media to distribute, publish or share any information prohibited under the Ugandan law as acknowledged in clause 6 of the new law. This information prohibited under Ugandan law includes hate speech to others, misinforming people about other persons, false identity, sharing of false, recording a person a video or an audio without their concern and sharing of malicious information.
Further, any person that is found guilty of going against the new law according to the Ugandan parliament shall be exposed to a stiff penalty constituting of imprisonment up to a maximum of 5 years and/or a fine of Ugandan Shillings (UGX) 10 million which is equivalent to USD 2,619.
As acknowledged by the lawmakers who passed this law, this bill was thought to be important and was brought as a way of punishing citizens in Uganda who were hiding behind social media and the internet to hurt and deform other people’s character because they have influence online. To note, is that the new law is an extension of the 2011 Ugandan law on the misuse of Computers as stated by CIPESA (2022). The bill was also necessitated by the need to protect the right to privacy of people that were being affected by the abuse that was being witnessed online especially on social media platforms as mentioned earlier on.
The new bill has faced some criticism from the citizens stating how it will promote the restriction to the freedom of expression noted especially from the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-U) and the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), a research and policy centre. Criticism has also come from the investigative journalists themselves who worry that the new bill will destroy their profession and their collection of evidence for the purpose of prosecution of cases of bribery or other crimes committed which might need what is being termed as prohibited by the new bill. Moreover, they emphasized on how the law will not fulfill the online civil liberties of citizens as acknowledged by Ugandan Committee to Protect Journalism.
However, it is imperative to note that this bill comes in force when the use of hate speech is at its highest form in Uganda, especially on social media as the youth have to deal with hate speech inter alia. In a report by The 77 Percent (2022) youth explained how the aforementioned has been extremely uncomfortable and hurtful, even if it comes from strangers. Young people in
Uganda have shared their bad experiences in relation to hate speech. Hence this new bill to the citizens of Uganda is a step forward to the protection of citizens from both online and offline hate speech, sharing of false information and deformation of character. The bill has made a positive step in defining and making it clear on what is hate speech as shown by the definition of hate speech in the new law. The government of Uganda has taken a broad step to restrict abuse of the internet by its citizens and hence protect its citizens.
If the law is to be rightfully implemented and effectively managed it may potentially improve various aspects regarding the digital space and also potentially help in the exemption of innocent citizens from being prosecuted on criminal access over innocent and unintended access ( The East African, 2022). The parliament and the law makers are also supposed to also listen to citizens’ worries and concerns on the negative impact of the bill and find a way to make sure that the bill tackles all the issues around the abuse of the internet in Uganda, at the same time not acting as an embargo to other professions like journalism. Conclusively the new bill shows progress in the restriction of the use of the internet and hate speech in Uganda.
Tanzania’s Parliament passes Finance Bill 2022
The Parliament of the Republic of Tanzania on the 28th of June 2022 passed the Finance Bill 2022. The act follows after the announcement of the Tanzanian 2022-23 National Budget Speech held on 14 June this year, by the Minister of Finance in Dodoma. The new bill was passed by the President, Her Excellency, Samia Suluhu Hassan and has been in effect as of the 1st of July 2022. According to a report by Tax News Update-US Edition (2022), the new finance bill imposes and alters various taxes and fees, and at the same time amending certain laws related to the collection and management of public revenues.
The new finance bill introduces Digital Service Tax with a rate of 2 % turnover to non-resident service providers. The bill also amended the definition of terms for example the terms, “Business”; “Digital Marketplace”; “electronic service” and “ Alternative financing arrangement” as asserted by the RegFollower (2022). For instance the term “business” has been amended to refer to include transactions carried out through the internet or digital marketplace meaning that such transactions will now be subject to taxation in Tanzania, which did not exist before.
Other provisions of the bill also includes amending of Value Added Tax (VAT) Act to accommodate Digital Services taxation especially to non-resident citizens. This will be ensured by the Tanzania Revenue Authority which will be mandated to establish a simplified registration process to accommodate these non-resident digital economy operators (VAT Update, 2022). The bill also mentions reduction in the Withholding tax to royalties in the film industry from the earlier 15% to 10%; Small Scale Miners has been introduced what is termed as the final Withholding Tax at 2% which will be paid to them and lastly the Exempt Capital Gain Tax (CGT) which is supposed to be freely surrendered to the government through the Treasury Office.
Moreover RSM Tanzania, a tax consultant organization, also adds how the bill has requested Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to have their supplies and imports of goods and services approved as a way of ensuring their qualification to the exemption of Value Added Tax (VAT). The bill also adds that all the goods and services that serve the purpose of implementing Tanzania’s special strategic investments, they may be granted a VAT by the Minister of Finance, hence the bill gives the Minister these powers and lastly the non-residents of Tanzania may now also register for VAT
The new act and its provisions by the government of Tanzania shows opportunities if fully and effectively implemented. The aforementioned provisions are proof enough of how the government is ready to deal with the issues relating to finance in the country, the opportunities and prospects. If the act is to be effectively implemented, the government has to also encompass factors like inclusion, participation, commitment and willingness to execute, from the officials at all levels in the country.
Uganda issues Tax Amendment Bills for 2022: Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Ugandan Minister of Finance put the Tax Amendment Bills to the parliament for debate on 30 March 2022. The set of bills were passed into law by the Parliament and with effect of the 1st of July 2022 were assented to by the President of the Republic of Uganda, His Excellency, Yoweri Museveni. These set of bills include the following bills:
Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Uganda Revenue Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022
Tax Procedure Code (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Tax Appeals Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2022
Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2022
One of the bills to which this brief analys is the Ugandan Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The bill was first set to clarify what constitutes an exempt import to remove the confusion that has since existed. It does so through amending the definition of an “exempt import of service” to exclude what was previously known; as “imported services which would be used in the provision of an exempt supply.”
The bill then further introduces new exempt supplies which now constitute the supply of devices to assist persons with disabilities; oxygen cylinders for medical purposes (under dental,veterinary and medical goods categories) and supply of airport user services which shall be led and initiated by the Civil Aviation Authority. To note, some supplies which are imperative to the citizens of Uganda have been removed from being exempt supplies and these include supplying menstrual cups and cotton seed cake.
Moreover the bill has also extended Public International Organizations that are under the First Schedule to the Value Added Tax Act. The two organizations that have been added include the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office which was formerly the Department for International Development and the International Development Law Organization. By adding them, the bill thus entitles the duo to VAT refunds as ascertained in Section 45 of the Act.
The bill also promotes the use of locally made materials in construction, machinery and equipment to hospital facility developers whose investment capital is at least USD$ 5 million, hence it introduces the Extension of Investment Incentive to help in carrying out a study. The bill further widens the definition for the supplies of educational materials that are zero rated to include those educational materials manufactured in a Partner State of the East African Community. Lastly the supply of sanitary towels,tampons, menstrual cups and inputs for manufacture should be zero-rated for VAT purposes.
The Ugandan government has taken a positive step in enacting the Tax Amendments Bills of 2022, particularly the VAT Amendment Bill 2022 as a way of amending what has been missing as well as to clarify areas in which there has existed confusion outlined in this brief. But of importance is to deal with issues regarding VAT in Uganda. This has been a way of ensuring that as tax is concerned this benefits the citizens of Uganda especially by holders of the licenses and also in terms of dispute settlement, clarity is deployed. The government of Uganda however needs to take a step further in the implementation of this bill and in the long run, evaluate itself and the effectiveness of the bill so that citizens' needs are fulfilled. While efforts have been made in the provisions of the amendment of the bill like the payment of fines to offenders relating to license, this already shows and predicts how the bill intends to take necessary measures in the successful implementation of the bill.
Sources:
https://cipesa.org/2022/10/new-law-in-uganda-imposes-restrictions-on-use-of-internet/
https://www.dw.com/en/experiencing-hate-speech-in-uganda/av-52806355
https://techcabal.com/2022/10/13/museveni-passes-ugandas-controversial-computer-misuse-bill/
https://mobile.twitter.com/GlobalPartnersD/status/1574387708293693443
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/uganda-social-media-law-3985446
https://www.ey.com/en_gl/tax-alerts/tanzania-s-president-assents-to-finance-act-2022
https://www.rsm.global/tanzania/insights/tax-insights/tax-alerts/finance-bill-2022
https://regfollower.com/tanzania-national-assembly-approves-finance-bill-2022/
https://home.kpmg/ke/en/home/insights/2022/07/analysis-of-finance-act-2022.html
https://cepiluganda.org/cepil-legal-briefs/the-electricity-amendment-act-2022/
https://parliamentwatch.ug/bills/the-income-tax-amendment-bill-2022/
https://www.vatupdate.com/2022/05/25/uganda-issues-tax-amendment-bills-for-2022-vat-measures/