Minister Musasizi Urgues Parliament to Back Domestic Revenue Drive for Economic Development 

By Wilfred Arinda Nshekantebirwe 

The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Henry Musasizi, has called on Parliament to partner with government in mobilizing domestic revenue to finance Uganda’s development ambitions.

Speaking at the URA engagement with Committees of Parliament, Musasizi said Uganda’s aspirations for better infrastructure, social services, industrialization and development of oil, gas and mineral resources must be matched with the capacity to pay for them.

“Uganda’s development ambitions are substantial. But we must be able to pay for the development we want. That is why domestic revenue mobilization is fundamental to Uganda’s economic independence,” he said.

The Minister asked Parliament to help protect the tax base by ensuring that any tax exemption or concession is weighed against the revenue to be foregone, the economic benefit expected, its duration and how its effectiveness will be evaluated.

He also urged lawmakers to support efforts to broaden the tax base by bringing more eligible economic activity into the formal system rather than increasing the burden on compliant taxpayers, and to back digitalization and information sharing across government institutions to enable URA to administer taxes more intelligently.

Musasizi further called on Parliament to strengthen accountability, holding URA accountable for improved performance and holding government accountable for how collected revenues are used, and to help build a national culture of compliance in their constituencies.

He said citizens should understand that paying tax is not merely an obligation to URA but a contribution to financing the country Uganda wants to build.

Uganda loses significant revenue annually through exemptions and concessions whose return is rarely measured. The Minister’s insistence on cost, benefit, duration and evaluation signals a shift towards disciplined use of incentives, a position that will test Parliament, which often faces pressure to grant exemptions.

By asking Parliament to hold government accountable for expenditure, Hon Musasizi touches the most sensitive part of tax morale. Ugandans have consistently questioned value for money. Unless revenue growth is matched with visible discipline in spending, the push for compliance will remain difficult.

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