Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has urged newly recruited Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) staff to uphold integrity, professionalism and fairness as the government intensifies efforts to increase domestic revenue collection.

Musasizi made the remarks during the pass-out ceremony of 174 newly recruited URA employees who completed a one-month leadership training programme at the Oliver Reginald Tambo School of Leadership.

The minister told the graduates that their duties extend beyond the collection of taxes, saying every engagement with taxpayers should contribute to building confidence in URA and government institutions.

“Every interaction with a taxpayer is an opportunity to build trust in URA and in Government,” Musasizi said.

He urged the new officers to handle the information, resources and authority entrusted to them responsibly, stressing that fairness, professionalism and integrity should guide their conduct.

According to Musasizi, tax officials also have a responsibility to help Ugandans understand the connection between paying taxes and financing national development.

“Your role goes beyond collecting revenue. You have a responsibility to help build a culture in which Ugandans understand that paying taxes is part of building the country we all want,” he said.

The minister further encouraged the recruits to embrace technology and continuous learning as they begin their careers at the revenue authority. He reminded them that completing the training was only the beginning of their responsibilities as public servants.

The training comes as government seeks to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation and raise Uganda’s tax-to-GDP ratio from its current level of about 14% to at least 20%.

Musasizi said Uganda’s economy has grown to Shs250.4 trillion, but argued that the country needs to improve its ability to generate domestic revenue in order to finance development without excessive dependence on borrowing.

Representing Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba at the ceremony, Joint Staff Political Commissar Maj. Gen. Henry Matsiko said effective revenue mobilisation was also important to the operations and capacity of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

Matsiko described successful revenue mobilisation and protection as a “force multiplier” for the UPDF, arguing that stronger domestic revenue collection helps guarantee government funding for building the force’s capacity.

He said efforts to mobilise revenue from domestic sources should be supported across government institutions, including the UPDF.

Matsiko also called for greater discipline and accountability among supervisors, saying the government was taking a tougher position on corruption and poor performance.

He urged the new officers to protect public revenue through discipline and ethical conduct, linking effective revenue protection to the country's sovereignty.

URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi Rujoki said the authority had recruited 2,092 new employees over the past three years.

Of these, 1,887 had undergone mindset-change training at different institutions, including 708 at the Oliver Reginald Tambo School of Leadership, 817 at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi and 362 at the External Security Organisation (ESO) in Garuga.

Musinguzi said the training was intended to give new employees a deeper understanding of the country's needs and their responsibilities as public servants.

He also reaffirmed URA's commitment to supporting the government's target of raising the revenue-to-GDP ratio to 20%.

Emmanuel Bichetero, the Acting Commissioner of the URA Tax Academy, said the ideological training was designed to prepare new employees for public service before they undertake technical tax training.

He said the programme was intended to instil a sense of purpose and responsibility among recruits rather than serve as a routine requirement.

Bichetero told the graduates that they had moved beyond being new recruits and were now members of the URA workforce, with an obligation to contribute to the authority's mandate.

The emphasis on taxpayer trust, ethical conduct and stronger domestic revenue mobilisation comes as government seeks to increase the resources available to finance national development while improving the relationship between taxpayers and the institutions responsible for collecting revenue.