President Yoweri Museveni has urged the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to raise the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio from the current 14 per cent to at least 20 per cent to reduce dependence on external borrowing and donors.
Speaking during Uganda’s 63rd Independence Day celebrations at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala on Thursday, Museveni said stronger revenue performance would enable the government to fund more of its development programmes internally.
“If URA collected at least 20%, we would raise about Shs 47 trillion annually,” he said. “That would ease our dependence on borrowing and accelerate development.” Museveni expressed optimism that Uganda’s economic fortunes will improve significantly once oil production begins next year, describing it as a blessing “shielded by divine providence” until the right time.
“The British were here for 68 years from 1920 to 1956, they tried to find petroleum in Uganda but failed. They even concluded that it had evaporated due to volcanic activity,” Museveni said.
“When the NRM came, we discovered petroleum around Lake Albert. God favoured us with special emphasis.”
The President outlined key priorities for the expected oil revenues, including defence, infrastructure, electricity expansion, education, health, safe water, irrigation, and railways. He also cited science, innovation, and industrial initiatives such as Kiira Motors and Dei Biopharma as central to Uganda’s economic transformation.
Part of the oil proceeds, Museveni said, will go toward improving the welfare of scientists, judicial officers, and security personnel. With disciplined budgeting, he added, Uganda could maintain an annual economic growth rate of around 7 per cent.
Despite challenges such as a growing population and rising public debt, the President said Uganda had made notable progress under the NRM government, particularly in health, education, and social welfare.
“Uganda’s population has grown from 14 million in 1986 to 46 million today,” he said. “Infant mortality has dropped from 119 to 28 deaths per 1,000 live births, life expectancy has risen from 43 to 68 years, and literacy has improved from 43% to 80%.”
Museveni also commended Ugandan scientists for innovations in automotive technology, pharmaceuticals, and vaccine development, saying their work reflects the fruits of strategic investment and disciplined budgeting.
“The British were here for 68 years from 1920 to 1956, they tried to find petroleum in Uganda but failed.” Indeed if the British colonialists had discovered oil in the environmentally sensitive regions of this country, they would not have handed back state power to the indigenous African peoples of this country as NRM seems determined not to do for many years now and counting. The main purpose of NRM that started in the Ganda tribes people’s Kingdom state of Buganda was not to discover oil and plunder the country’s treasury, but to remove the nasty African dictator, Dr Milton Obote who had returned from Tanzania 1980, and had rigged national democratic elections to stay put in state power for many years and govern the country left, right and centre until Jesus comes back to earth!
We generate more taxes by re-introducing vehicle inspection, increasing tax on fuel, express penalty tickets for those already paying over 40% of their income into PAYE and consumption related VAT. Once we have that money, we can now pass it on to villages as PDM funding to people unable to pay even graduated tax!!
Unless he of course thinks that we are his slaves.
While in Masindi marking the bloody NRM Day, isn’t this the same 85-years-old PROBLEM OF AFRICA Gen Tibuhaburwa, who on 26 Jan 2017, told us off that: he is neither our SERVANT nor EMPLOYEE, and that we are mistaken if we thought that he went to the bushes of Lweero in 1981, in order to help us?
In other words, after collections, Ugandan pay taxes at their own risk because, the man urging them to pay the incremental taxes, does not care a straw about provision of social service. He simply funnel the bulk of the money into his bottomless pockets and spends it on whatever he wants, including bribery (corrupting) in order to cling to power.
But when it comes to the discovery of oil Mr. M7 is letting a dry lie. The oil was originally discovered by the Brits. But because of the uncertainty of their governance in Uganda, they could not proceed. And it was during Obote II when that prospect was to be implemented. But because of his (M7) subversive treasonable activities and as the say the rest is history.
In other words, Mr. M7 lacks originality. No wonder Obote (RIP) told Ugandans that the man is “a consummate liar”. And to tell lies is to mislead. Except chaos, filth, corruption and violence, that is how far the man has been misleading the country for the last 40 years, into nowhere.