Just a few weeks in office, John Musinguzi Rujoki the new Commissioner General of tax collecting body Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), has already effected some serious shake-ups in the top management of the organization.
The shake-up is said to be in line with a Presidential directive to Rujoki, to clean up the ‘mess’ that is at URA.
Matooke Republic has learnt that there were plans for the Col. Edith Nakalema-led State House Anti-Corruption Unit to carry out investigations into URA operations.
But Rujoki is said to have requested his appointing authority- President Museveni, to give him the opportunity to carry out investigations and also do the cleaning up himself, alongside the board.
The the URA boss is said to have convened a couple of board meetings, where he discussed intelligence files of some commissioners that had used their positions to mismanage taxpayers’ money.
It is believed that this is the reason why four commissioners namely; Dickson Collins Kateshumbwa, Henry Saka, Silajji Kanyesigye Baguma, and Samuel Kahima tendered in their resignations on Friday. URA released a statement on Saturday accepting their resignations.
According to Daily Monitor, these were among other cases, implicated in a tax waiver in excess of Shs195 billion to Kansai Plascon during the company’s acquisition of Sadolin Paints in 2017.
Interviews for all new appointees
Rujoki is not leaving any stones unturned; the new URA boss ordered all top managers to do fresh interviews to ascertain their eligibility for the positions they currently hold.
This website has learnt that Rujoki and the URA board have decided to have all URA staff that are in ‘acting’ positions do fresh internal interviews this month. In the event that anyone fails the interviews, they will be terminated and their positions advertised for new filings.
“We have embarked on a new era of service and focus will be integrity and conducting our business with professionalism. It is a job we must do with total integrity,” Rujoki said.
