West Nile businesswomen, taxman discuss compliance

ARUA - A special conference for West Nile women to discuss issues affecting their businesses has been organised by the taxman.

The conference, which was attended by hundreds of women, was held under the theme: Beyond Her Tax Returns: Comply and Thrive, at Tropical Suites Hotel in Arua city on March 6, 2026.

It was meant to celebrate the role that women play in economic development, discuss opportunities and challenges, and share practical solutions to the challenges women face in the day-to-day running of their businesses.

The conference also featured discussions on financial literacy, tax policy, and how women-led businesses can leverage tax incentives to drive sustainable growth. By providing a platform for learning and networking.

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) reaffirmed its commitment to supporting women in their entrepreneurial and professional journeys and driving initiatives that foster inclusive economic participation, ensuring that women are equipped with the knowledge and resources to thrive in Uganda’s evolving business landscape.

Clair Sanyu, the URA supervisor in charge of stakeholder relations in northern Uganda, said the conference is a way of appreciating and empowering business women in the region and hearing from them the challenges they face as they contribute to national development.

Clair said continuous nurturing of women entrepreneurs is key for business survival and tax compliance.

Likewise, Josephine Teddy Oyergiu, the supervisor in charge of West Nile customs field services, added that the conference aimed at bringing together the women to share their experiences and challenge them to move away from traditional ways of conducting businesses to formalising businesses, in addition to understanding the different existing tax policies.

Businesswomen interact with the URA and government officials during the women's conference in Arau City. (Credit: Robert Adiga)

“One of the initiative undertaken by URA was to support business women come into groups and through the group they formed trade blocks and women headed business groups and the executive leaders of the groups were trained over time on business registration and book keeping that has helped them over time and right now several women are engaged in value additions businesses in the region,” Oyergiu said.

Ritah Muzira, the head of public relations and communication in the office of the Commissioner General in URA, said the regional women’s conference aimed at sharing URA’s vision with the business women to encourage compliance and have profitable businesses, as majority of them still operate informally.

“We have shared our mandate as URA and our Obligation and we also shared their rights and obligations, and also record keeping as well as formalization because we want to bring them from being small taxpayers and become bigger entrepreneurs and benefit from government incentives to the taxpayers," Muzira said.

The police spokesperson for Westnile Sub region, Josephine Angucia, who was a participant at the regional Women’s conference, commended the initiative said she gained a lot of knowledge and tips on how to thrive in business amidst tax compliance.

“One of the tips was record keeping and making business forms, which has been a big challenge in our region, especially in the businesses owned by women, and this conference was really important because it also made the people understand the operations of URA as opposed to the negative perspective they have been having against URA,” said Angucia.

Angucia said police and URA work together to ensure tax compliance and improved revenue collection through peaceful means.

Betty Akello Otekat, the Resident City Commissioner Arua, challenges both the business women and the URA officials to make use of her office to resolve any disagreements on tax compliance while warning the URA officials against corruption tendencies.