After numerous attempts, the Uganda Revenue Authority has now decided to include the use of drones in isolated routes to net corrupt individuals involved in the vice of smuggling goods into the country from the neighboring countries.
The drones known as Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are expected to cost a whopping 500million which will be obtained in their next budget for the 2020-2021 financial year following approval by the finance committee of parliament.
The drones will come along with covert listening devices, known as wire and body cameras as well as body listening devices.
Stephen Magera, the URA assistant commissioner for enforcement says these drones will serve as a visual supplementary to other methods that are already in place especially in smuggling hotspots around the country.
Magera said that there have been improvements with the road networks that would enable swift movements for the enforcement team. He also said the authority has recruited more staff to be on the ground.
Smuggling continues to haunt Uganda’s economy, for instance in the financial year 2018/19, URA enforcement operations from 9,152 arrests saw a revenue recovery of 78.48 billion Shillings.
