The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General, John Rujoki Musinguzi, has acknowledged the presence of corruption within the authority but affirmed that the new management is actively combating it.
Musinguzi reported that over the past four years, more than 100 staff members have been dismissed due to corruption.
Speaking to The New Vision, Musinguzi stated, “I cannot deny that there’s corruption, but that is what the new management has been and is still fighting. So, we welcome the President’s move and pray that the unit will live up to the task and the expectations of the appointing authority.”
He emphasized that this is a complementary effort by the Government to tackle the issue.
In a bid to further address corruption, President Yoweri Museveni announced the creation of a new unit on Friday: the State House Revenue Intelligence and Strategic Operations Unit.
This unit will oversee URA operations and combat corruption within the tax administration system. The unit will be led by David Kalemera, who has also been appointed as a senior presidential advisor.
President Museveni expressed that the unit will assist the Government in closing revenue gaps and boosting tax collection.
In response to his appointment, Kalemera expressed his honour and gratitude on social media platform X, acknowledging the significant responsibility that comes with the role. He thanked the President for his trust and confidence in him.
However, the latest economic performance report for May indicated that URA experienced a shortfall of UGX 130.36 billion in domestic revenue collections.
Released on June 17 by the finance ministry, the report showed that domestic revenue collections in May totalled UGX 2.26 trillion, achieving 94.6% of the target UGX 2.39 trillion, thus resulting in the shortfall.
Corruption cases within URA have been a recurring issue, with several staff members charged and remanded over the years.
Interestingly, court documents reveal that Kalemera was convicted of tax fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony in April 2022, alongside Ian Paul Ssemanda and Ronald Kazibwe.
In February this year, the Anti-Corruption Court in Nakasero, Kampala, remanded two former URA employees, Caroline Naggoli and Benedict Sekaayi, on charges of corruption and abuse of office.
They were accused of soliciting a bribe of UGX 800 million from a taxpayer, Tong Jiao alias Elena.
Additionally, on August 10 last year, Rogers Kanzire, a 35-year-old URA short-term employee, was remanded by the Anti-Corruption Court for soliciting and receiving a bribe of UGX 10 million from Isaac Byarugaba.
To further combat graft, URA announced increased whistleblower incentives in September 2022, under the Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Act, 2022.
Informants who report noncompliant taxpayers, leading to the recovery of tax arrears, can now earn up to UGX 100 million.
