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- Sources close to the dispute spoke under anonymity saying the car bond is being closed due to a 28-year-old land wrangle.
- The landlord in the dispute is yet to be known
- All car importers and car owners have asked for more time to collect demurrage (a charge payable to the owner of a chartered ship on failure to load or discharge the ship within the time agreed).
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has issued directed the owner of Coin Bond in Nakawa Kampala to vacate the warehouse based on a dispute on the premises.
In a notice issued yesterday, URA commissioner customs indicated that no importer or owner would be expected to deposit a motor vehicle in the said facility.
URA notice
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“The Commissioner Customs notifies the general public about the closure of Coin Bond, as such, no motor vehicle units shall be deposited in the said facility with effect from March 22. The Commissioner Customs calls upon all owners of motor vehicles that are still warehoused in this bond to clear them out within ten [10] days, for either home consumption, exportation or removal to another licenced bond,” the notice reads.
Coin is one of the largest bonds, covering a stretch along Jinja Road, that warehouses motor vehicles in the country
Ibrahim Bbosa, the URA assistant commissioner for public and corporate affairs told Daily Monitor, that the move was based on a long-standing wrangle over the land.
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“In our conditions for licensing bonds, it is not sustainable to have a bond whose existence is not guaranteed. So, there have been some back and forth between them and us where we have advised them to take the vehicles to other bonds," he said.
Owners ask for grace period
He mentioned that Coin have asked for a grace period to arrange their relocation.
"Their latest communication to Commissioner Customs was requesting more time so that the car owners in the bond are able to pay their demurrage. Otherwise, if they just go away they will lose the demurrage,” he added.
Bbosa did not give details of the wrangle, but sources close to the issue said the landlord recently won a court case in which Coin is supposed to vacate the land.