Buliisa District Local Government registers tax revenue growth
SEATINI Uganda, in partnership with Oxfam and Kakindo Integrated Women Development Agency (KAWIDA), concluded a two-day meeting with Buliisa District Local Government (DLG) officials on 16th May 2025, focusing on the implementation of Local Revenue Enhancement Plans (LREP).
This meeting was a follow-up with Buliisa DLG, to assess the progress of implementing the LREP.
With funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Oxfam, in partnership with SEATINI Uganda, CBTP, KAWIDA, and Osukuru United Women's Network, is implementing a 3-year ‘Tax for Development’ Project in the districts of Buliisa and Tororo and at the national level.
The project aimed to strengthen the capacity of civil society and investigative journalists to advocate for fiscal justice, thereby enhancing the financing of priority social sectors and contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Uganda.
Henry Semanda, a Tax Analyst, emphasised that local authorities require specific targets to expand their tax base and improve local revenue generation. He further stated that engaging local citizens, especially farmers, traders, and business owners, on revenue issues helps identify practical strategies for increasing revenue and improving compliance.
During this engagement, James Isingoma, the Buliisa District Accountant, shared how the project has enhanced revenue generation and collection at the Buliisa district.
“In 2022-2023, we had a budget of UGX 800M but only collected UGX 400 M because of some leakages in the tax administration and the challenges with taxpayers. Similarly, In 2023-2024,, our budget went up to UGX 1.074B, but we could only realise UGX 496M In this financial year, with the strategies put in place through our good revenue enhancement plan and the introduction of cashless payment, we have performed better, with current market reports showing that we have so far realized UGX826M out of a current budget of UGX905M, which is a tremendous performance. Our hope is that we have our budget fully implemented before the close of the financial year, we are left with a balance of only UGX78 M. “I urge our tax collectors and the sub county chiefs to ensure this UGX78M is realized so that we implement our budget at 100%. I want to appreciate your efforts. We are now seeing your value, ever since you joined in, we are seeing a tremendous improvement in revenue.”