Ex-URA chief Aslund bids staff farewell
ASLUND Annebrit was Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) former Commissioner-General. Her three-year term expired last month. Below is a verbatim speech she delivered at her farewell party in Kampala this week
ASLUND Annebrit was Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) former Commissioner-General. Her three-year term expired last month. Below is a verbatim speech she delivered at her farewell party in Kampala this week.
I expect most of you have already heard that I shall today be leaving the URA after three years as your Commissioner General. Last January, I declared that I would like to renew my contract and until last Wednesday I was assured that it would be. On Wednesday afternoon, I received a letter from the Minister of Finance (Gerald Ssendalua) telling me that this would not be possible.
This has unfortunately left me little time or opportunity to say personal goodbyes to you.
I am sad to have to leave. But the URA today is a very different and, I believe, better organisation than when I joined you.
Firstly, we now meet or exceed our targets, either in shillings or in dollars. This year, revenue collection was 17% higher than in the previous year, which in its turn was 15% higher than that in 2001/02, despite a slow down in the economy and unfavourable exchange rates.
Inexplicably, the Minister of Finance omitted to mention this achievement in his budget speech to Parliament on June 10. We have with the help of our consultants created an IT strategy that, once approved, will serve the URA for some years to come.
We have established a fair and transparent system to monitor and appraise staff performance. We have reformed our recruitment procedures and improved and expanded staff training programmes.
Our records management is infinitely better than a couple of years ago.
Overall, there has been a significant improvement in efficiency and commitment, which has drawn praise from the business community.
Corruption, however, remains a stain on the URA’s reputation. When I joined, I decided to tackle the problem head on.
I therefore asked the Government to establish a judicial commission to examine the issue and make appropriate recommendations.
Unfortunately, an exercise, which I had hoped would help promote reform, has become a weight around the URA’s neck.
Under the Commission’s terms of reference, it was initially authorised to sit for three months, which could be extended by an extra month.
In practice, it was nearly two years before a report was delivered, only to be disowned by two of the three commissioners because, in their view, the recommendations did not truly reflect the evidence presented, but were full of innuendo and unsupported allegations.
I nevertheless hoped that something positive could be salvaged from the wreckage, not least to justify the enormous expenditure on the exercise.
I therefore wrote to the Minister of Finance to request a copy, but received neither a reply nor the report.
During this time URA was not allowed to recruit, promote or reconfirm contracts of senior staff.
At the end of last year, URA was finally allowed to reconfirm but still not to recruit or appoint senior staff.
While this constraint would have been acceptable for four months, its extension over almost two years has seriously compromised the efficiency of URA and damaged staff morale as it has proved impossible to reward good performance.
The Minister of Finance was asked to lift the restrictions but they are still there.
Despite the measurable improvements in the URA’s performance and output over the last three years, I would be the first to acknowledge that much remains to be done, particularly in Customs where, according to recent consultants’ report, management remains dangerously weak.
But as well as within the organisation, urgent reform is needed outside the URA if Uganda is to prosper.
Firstly, if the tax base is to be increased the Ugandan people must be able to see rapid and tangible benefits across the country from the money they pay in taxes, in the form of, for example, better healthcare, education and roads.
Secondly and, above all, general standards of honesty and integrity must be improved.
In too many cases, those in leading positions in the country who should be setting a good example, instead use their political or financial influence to evade paying the taxes and customs duties for which they, their family members and associates are liable.
I am sad to have to leave the URA before I have been able to finish the job I set out and was employed to do.
Throughout my three years as Commissioner General I have been very gratified by the support, help and encouragement I have received from the vast majority of staff at all levels of the organisation, and for all your hard work in, often, difficult circumstances.
I am also grateful for all the expressions of support that I have received since last Friday. I wish you all well for the future.
I expect most of you have already heard that I shall today be leaving the URA after three years as your Commissioner General. Last January, I declared that I would like to renew my contract and until last Wednesday I was assured that it would be. On Wednesday afternoon, I received a letter from the Minister of Finance (Gerald Ssendalua) telling me that this would not be possible.
This has unfortunately left me little time or opportunity to say personal goodbyes to you.
I am sad to have to leave. But the URA today is a very different and, I believe, better organisation than when I joined you.
Firstly, we now meet or exceed our targets, either in shillings or in dollars. This year, revenue collection was 17% higher than in the previous year, which in its turn was 15% higher than that in 2001/02, despite a slow down in the economy and unfavourable exchange rates.
Inexplicably, the Minister of Finance omitted to mention this achievement in his budget speech to Parliament on June 10. We have with the help of our consultants created an IT strategy that, once approved, will serve the URA for some years to come.
We have established a fair and transparent system to monitor and appraise staff performance. We have reformed our recruitment procedures and improved and expanded staff training programmes.
Our records management is infinitely better than a couple of years ago.
Overall, there has been a significant improvement in efficiency and commitment, which has drawn praise from the business community.
Corruption, however, remains a stain on the URA’s reputation. When I joined, I decided to tackle the problem head on.
I therefore asked the Government to establish a judicial commission to examine the issue and make appropriate recommendations.
Unfortunately, an exercise, which I had hoped would help promote reform, has become a weight around the URA’s neck.
Under the Commission’s terms of reference, it was initially authorised to sit for three months, which could be extended by an extra month.
In practice, it was nearly two years before a report was delivered, only to be disowned by two of the three commissioners because, in their view, the recommendations did not truly reflect the evidence presented, but were full of innuendo and unsupported allegations.
I nevertheless hoped that something positive could be salvaged from the wreckage, not least to justify the enormous expenditure on the exercise.
I therefore wrote to the Minister of Finance to request a copy, but received neither a reply nor the report.
During this time URA was not allowed to recruit, promote or reconfirm contracts of senior staff.
At the end of last year, URA was finally allowed to reconfirm but still not to recruit or appoint senior staff.
While this constraint would have been acceptable for four months, its extension over almost two years has seriously compromised the efficiency of URA and damaged staff morale as it has proved impossible to reward good performance.
The Minister of Finance was asked to lift the restrictions but they are still there.
Despite the measurable improvements in the URA’s performance and output over the last three years, I would be the first to acknowledge that much remains to be done, particularly in Customs where, according to recent consultants’ report, management remains dangerously weak.
But as well as within the organisation, urgent reform is needed outside the URA if Uganda is to prosper.
Firstly, if the tax base is to be increased the Ugandan people must be able to see rapid and tangible benefits across the country from the money they pay in taxes, in the form of, for example, better healthcare, education and roads.
Secondly and, above all, general standards of honesty and integrity must be improved.
In too many cases, those in leading positions in the country who should be setting a good example, instead use their political or financial influence to evade paying the taxes and customs duties for which they, their family members and associates are liable.
I am sad to have to leave the URA before I have been able to finish the job I set out and was employed to do.
Throughout my three years as Commissioner General I have been very gratified by the support, help and encouragement I have received from the vast majority of staff at all levels of the organisation, and for all your hard work in, often, difficult circumstances.
I am also grateful for all the expressions of support that I have received since last Friday. I wish you all well for the future.