Uganda: Trade Ministry urged to table Consumer Protection Bill

The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, has tasked the Minister of State for Trade Industry and Cooperatives (Industry), Hon. David Bahati, to honour his earlier pledge and table the Consumer Protection Bill.

The Bill aims at setting standards for the quality, safety, and reliability of goods and also provides remedies in case of non-compliance with those standards as well as prohibiting unfair trade practices.

Tayebwa recalled that it was after the minister’s intervention that Parliament excluded consumer protection-related matters while processing the Competition Act, 2023, recently assented to by the President alongside four other Bills.

“Hon. Minister, remember we discussed the Consumer Protection Bill and you said it should be different from the Competition Bill – we need you to table the Bill,” Tayebwa said in his communication during the plenary sitting on Tuesday, 06 February 2024.

AUDIO Deputy Speaker Tayebwa

The Bills assented to are: the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2024; the Judicature (Amendment) Act, 2023; the Explosives Act, 2023; The Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act 2003; and the Competition Act, 2023.

The Deputy Speaker commended President Yoweri Museveni for assenting to the five Bills, saying they will enable the smooth running of the country.

Nakaseke South County MP, Hon. Semakula Luttamaguzi, asked that Parliament fast-track the Minimum Wage Bill, saying it is a highly demanded legislation in his constituency.

“We appreciate the speed at which the President assented to the Bills. However, I am very concerned about the Minimum Wage Bill. What happened to the Bill? The people we represent ask for it, where did it go?” asked Luttamaguzi.

In response to Hon. Luttamaguzi, the Deputy Speaker pledged to follow up on the status of the Minimum Wage Bill and chart a way forward.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.