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Museveni to meet Magufuli as sugar war rages

Wednesday August 08 2018
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Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (left) and Tanzania's John Magufuli. President Museveni will visit Tanzania on August 9, 2018. PHOTO | NMG

By The EastAfrican

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni is expected to meet his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli on Thursday for a one-day State visit.

Tanzania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation said in a statement that the purpose of the visit is to cement relations between the two neighbours.

The leaders will hold private talks at State House Dar es Salaam and thereafter a luncheon.

The visit comes as the two countries are currently engaged in a sugar war that has seen Dar deny market access to sugar from Uganda claiming it is imported from Kenya.

Tanzania has slapped a 25 per cent import duty on sugar from Uganda, which Kampala says is in violation of the zero rate recommendation of the EAC rules of origin and the Common Market Protocol.

A Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) official said at the weekend that Kakira Sugar Works had in May exported 12,000 bags (600 tonnes) of locally manufactured sugar to Tanzania but it was denied entry and forced to return.

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Tanzania alleges that the sugar was sneaked into Uganda from Kenya which is embroiled in a domestic sugar crisis caused by importation of large amounts of duty-free sugar.

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