Uganda Revenue Authority has launched a nationwide Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative under the theme “Believe there is Good.” This is aimed at creating an enjoyable working relationship between URA and its stakeholders but also a unique way of celebrating 30 years of developing Uganda.
As a way of creating high impact, URA has made a number of donations to China-Uganda Friendship Hospital aka Naguru General Hospital worth UGX 50 million. The donations include; 20 admission cots, a 200-seater tent and 150 plastic chairs. URA staff also cleaned the hospital premises to create a good atmosphere for the patients.
In addition, URA together with other stakeholders will spread its benevolence to Bwama Primary School in Kabale among other contributions. Here, a motorboat will be donated to the school to ease movement of school going children across Lake Bunyonyi.
Shortly after being taken on a tour of Naguru hospital, URA Commissioner General, John Musinguzi commended the work of the staff at the hospital.
“Just from the tour that we have conducted, we have noticed the excellent job that you are doing and we are here to say that we have one goal of making Uganda a better place,” he said.
The URA team, he said, does an equally difficult job.
“Sometimes we do a very thankless job because we are working together to make sure that we mobilize enough revenue to make our nation a better place for everyone. So, it’s a tough job. We work until late. We work in difficult circumstances. The environment at the (URA) tower is not representative of what many of our officers go through but we have grass thatched houses at the border posts. We have those who work 24/7 to make sure that business is facilitated. So, generally as an organization, we have a very challenging task of mobilizing every penny so that we put it in the treasury so that our nation,” Musinguzi said.
He noted that after 30 years of existence, URA will even a better job.
“As we mature to the age of 30, we are getting ready to do our job better than ever before and we need your support. We want to collect more money for the national treasury so that a lot of these needs can be met. So that the staff, the medical profession can be remunerated appropriately. We have had several times the leaders of our government, the President has pledged to improve the welfare of the medical teams and it’s possible only if we can mobilize enough revenue,” the URA boss said.
According to Naguru hospital director, Emmanuel Batiibwe, the donation is timely given the fact that the facility is among the many currently managing the Covid-19 patients. For instance, he says, the hospital has so far managed over 5, 000 Covid-19 patients while over 22, 000 women report for antenatal services. As a result, he says that there is crowding and as such, there is limited space.
In the near future, Batiibwe says the hospital will exclusively manage trauma and emergency services as there is anticipation of the 3rd wave of Covid-19. Whereas the Chinese government gives the hospital Shs 200 million annually in equipment and specialists, there is still a need, he says.
These needs, he says, are chairs, tents and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) among others.
According to Ian M. Rumanyika, Ag. Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs at URA, the culture of charity in URA has an immeasurable impact on our communities and that is why URA Management gives chance to its employees to contribute their labor to local causes that can also result in meaningful team building, shared personal values, and act in unison toward a great common goal.
“It is this spirit of developing value-driven programs that have helped grow philanthropic efforts of URA to even deeper roots,” Rumanyika said.
