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Panic, confusion and sleepless nights have reportedly gripped officials at the tax body, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), after the institution allegedly switched off a sophisticated tax ledger system and forced staff to revert to manual reconciliation of taxes.
According to an explosive internal memo seen by insiders, URA management terminated the contract of an Indian technology company that had been providing system support for the authority’s tax database, reconciliation processes and other critical digital infrastructure.
The Indian firm had reportedly been responsible for ensuring that tax payments, ledger entries and reconciliation systems ran smoothly within URA’s digital platforms.
But in a controversial decision, URA officials allegedly terminated the contract claiming the foreign company was “too expensive”.
What followed, sources say, is total operational chaos.
“Everything Is Manual Now”
Insiders say URA staff in the IT and finance departments are now struggling to keep up with mountains of tax data manually after the automated systems started experiencing major disruptions.
“People are overwhelmed,” a source said. “We used to rely on automated reconciliations. Now officers are doing entries manually like in the 1990s.”
Staff reportedly spend long hours checking payment records line-by-line, something the digital system previously handled within seconds.
The situation has reportedly slowed down tax confirmations, reconciliations and ledger balancing, triggering complaints from taxpayers and system users.
Threats and Tension
The termination of the Indian support team reportedly sparked serious tensions inside the tax authority.
Sources claim that during the heated transition period, one senior URA official allegedly threatened to shoot one of the foreign support staff members during a dispute over access to the system infrastructure.
The claim could not be independently verified, but insiders say the incident left staff shocked and deepened the hostility surrounding the contract termination.
“Connected” Replacement Firm
Even more controversial are claims that URA quickly replaced the Indian software provider with a local company allegedly linked to powerful officials within the authority.
Critics inside URA claim the local firm lacks the technical capacity to manage the complex tax ledger system previously handled by the foreign specialists.
“They chased away people who built and understood the system,” another insider said.
“Now the people replacing them are learning on the job.”
System Struggling
Since the change, sources say system outages, slow processing and reconciliation backlogs have become increasingly common.
Taxpayers and clearing agents have reportedly begun complaining about delays in verification of payments and system responses.
“The system keeps hanging,” a user reportedly complained. “Sometimes payments take too long to reflect.”
Cost Cutting or Costly Gamble?
URA management reportedly justified the termination of the Indian contract as a cost-cutting measure aimed at reducing operational expenses.
But critics inside the authority say the move may end up costing more in lost efficiency, operational disruptions and reputational damage.
“The irony is that in trying to save money, they may have broken the entire system,” one insider said.
Internal Pressure Mounts
With the system struggling and staff overwhelmed, pressure is now reportedly mounting inside URA to find a quick technological fix before the backlog spirals further out of control.
For now, however, insiders say the tax body responsible for collecting trillions of shillings annually is stuck doing critical financial reconciliations by hand.
And for many staff inside the authority, the situation can only be described in one phrase: “Total chaos.”
URA has been contacted for a comment.
Watch this space!
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