By Jumah Kakomo
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has committed to continue with building a strong rapport and liaise with all stakeholders to ensure effective service delivery and raise revenue across the country.
The commitment was revealed by the Commissioner General of the Authority John Rujoki Musinguzi on Thursday in the ongoing Service excellence week at the authority headquarters in Nakawa division, Kampala district. The week is dedicated to all valued tax payers who may have any outstanding dues with the authority in various aspects.
This is one of the strategies through which the authority uses to engage with stakeholders to raise their concerns regarding the tax body, assess its performance and lay down strategies to curb various challenges facing both parties.
While delivering his remarks, Musinguzi revealed that the authority works tirelessly to extend its services in various parts of the country thus appealing to all taxpayers to expect constant high quality service delivery. He says the authority has tried to establish various initiatives to enable people to access services easily and to raise revenue without any hardships.
Musinguzi urged all stakeholders to report to the authority whenever they find problems so that they sorted out them to enable them execute their work peacefully rather than staying quiet which at times leads to losses thus killing the businesses.
“We are here to serve you, but not exploit you therefore let us liaise with each other to transform our economy by working together.” Musinguzi said.
The chairman of Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) Thadeus Nagenda Musoke applauded URA for the tremendous work done despite some challenges.
However; Nagenda noted that they are to partner with the authority and other stakeholders to sensitize the masses regarding the benefits of paying taxes in any country.
Ezra Mukasa, a farmer expressed dismay in ways how URA executes its work saying it has modern technology which hinders many illiterates to access its services due to ignorance leading many to work in deficits.
“Many uneducated taxpayers face challenges such as accessing the authority services which is a stumbling block towards the success of our business and thus I urge the authority to localize its services if possible,” Mukasa stated.
Aloysius Kakooza, an engineer by profession said they tirelessly pay taxes but they still work in an unfavorable environment hindering them to generate income such as poor roads, hospitals, schools among others.
“I want to see the value of our tax by constructing good roads, hospitals, schools among others instead of putting it in improper use.” Kakooza said.
Ronnie Mubiru, and Judith Nasuuna, applauded URA for always working tirelessly to extend and ensure effective service delivery despite some challenges still faced such as unstable online services among others which affects businesses.
