By Dismas Nuwaine
URA recently participated in the 2024 edition of the Africa Wisdom Summit, a landmark event that brings together coveted speakers across Africa to have a conversation about Africa’s stature and practical steps to develop and transform the continent in the social, political and economic spheres.
This year’s theme, “Mindshift for Africa’s Transformation,” rekindled the conversation for a focused effort to change people’s perceptions towards the revenue mobilization programs of the taxman URA.
Dr. Dennis Sempebwa, the founder of Africa Wisdom Summit argued that the unwillingness of people to part with their fair share of taxes voluntarily requires tailored and focused efforts from government to consistently educate the people about the importance of taxation.
“It should always be taught that part of success is always to give but unfortunately, this is taught more in church than in the outside world,” said Sempebwa.
Dumi Lopang, an astute businessman in Botswana who owns a media conglomerate, mentioned that it is not enough to teach about taxes but much more, “you need to show people what their taxes are doing.” He therefore encourages governments to account for the revenue collected and this will encourage people to add to the fund.
“The taxation cycle is a whole eco-system. We understand too well the principle of giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but this same Caesar also has a responsibility,” said Lopang before he continued, “If I give to Caesar and I see nothing changing, I doubt I will be honest in my remittances. So, it’s a two-way cycle.”
Dumi also emphasized the importance of publicity and public relations campaigns as very impeccable tools for revenue agencies to bridge the gap between them and the people. He drew his example from the Zambia Revenue Authority.
“The Zambia Revenue Authority does a lot of marketing and PR; they are constantly talking, educating, and accounting to the people. Slowly, you can see the mindset of the people changing. So really, everyone plays a role,” continued the telecommunications guru.
Successive panels agreed that Uganda as a country should leverage its youthful population and inculcate, amongst many things, tax matters at a very young stage where young people can grow up well-positioned to contribute to their development and that of their country as fruitful individuals for the overall transformation of the continent.
