If you randomly find a Ugandan and ask them the prices of soap in their area, many will tell you a bar is at 10,000/=. Yes, we have reached a point where ordinary washing soap is more expensive than bathing soap and also more expensive than a bottle of beer.
Like soap, prices of other commodities are increasing at rocket speed, with little or no hope of these prices going down any time soon. This has been caused by the unstable fuel prices, which is also attributed to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
While Ugandans continue to decry these uneplainable commodity prices, the government too seems blank and not sure of what to do. Recently, the prime minister Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja advised Ugandans to use paw paw leaves as soap, as a way of combarting the soap prices. In her defence, this was a technique uesd back in the days and it could as well come in handy at the moment. Yes, she said that!
While giving his Easter Holiday speech at his residence in Namirembe yesterday, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Rt Rev. Dr. Steven Kazimba Mugalu raised his concerns on the ever increasing prices of commodities in the country, and aimed his message to the government, requesting the responsible parties to do something.
“I feel pain in my heart because of the increasing commodity prices, like fuel and food. Some people have gone to the extent of stealing and killing others like it has been the case in Kyengera Town Council. I appeal to government to intervene. It is a challenging situation but believe and trust in the Lord. Repent and look for better ways of making money,” he said.
With all this being said, Minister of State for Trade, Ms Harriet Ntabazi, earlier on during plenary said that much as the prices of commodities, especially fuel keep skyrocketing, their still fairly lower compared to what other countries are experiencing.
Ms Ntabazi said in Kenya, a litre of fuel has gone up to Shs6,800 while in Tanzania it is sold at Shs6,000. Currently, a litre of petrol is trading at Shs5,230 at many fuel stations. One would argue that this came off as a lame excuse for a minister, that the right thing to do would be finding s solution to the skyrocketing prices not playing the comparison card with our neighbours.
