Browsing by Author "Bategeka, Lawrence"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Gender and Taxation: Analysis of Personal Income Tax (PIT)
    (Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), 2009) Bategeka, Lawrence; Guloba, Madina; Kiiza, Julius
    This paper examines the gender dimensions of personal income tax (PIT) in Uganda with an eye on the possible gender biases that may be embedded in the tax system. It further addresses the issue of Uganda’s achievement of substantive gender equality rather than formal equality as regards the impact of taxes from a gender perspective. This is in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The paper critically examines Uganda’s tax laws that seem to have formal equality, treating all people as if they are the same and synonymous with equality of opportunity. Yet, substantive equality recognizes that people are not the same. Equal treatment may therefore not be equitable. Accordingly, the paper examines the extent to which Uganda’s tax laws and practices are, through affirmative action, geared to the achievement of substantive equality or the attainment of equal outcomes. We find that PIT paid by different household earning types increases gender inequality. We also find that the income tax system only worsens gender gaps and hardly is a useful tool that could be used to close the gender gaps. This is mainly because the tax rates are applied equally to both genders without due consideration of gender inequality and household composition that is rooted in the country’s social norms and history. Furthermore, we find that more women increasingly fall under taxable brackets in real terms because of the income tax brackets that are not indexed to inflation. The paper proposes how PIT could be reformed with a view to using taxation as a tool for the realization of substantive gender equality.
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    Institutional Constraints to Agriculture Development in Uganda
    (Economic Policy Research Centre - EPRC, 2013) Bategeka, Lawrence; Kiiza, Julius; Kasirye, Ibrahim
    Since the early 1990s, Uganda has implemented a number of reforms in the agricultural sector. However, in the past 10 years, the performance of the sector has lagged behind other sectors particularly services and industry. There are concerns among researchers and policy analysts that institutional constraints in agriculture play a central role in the lacklustre agricultural performance registered during the 2000s. This study examines the institutional constraints affecting agricultural production in Uganda. We recommend reforming the land tenure system as well as the architecture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries as means of dealing with the major constraints.
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    Oil Discovery in Uganda: Managing Expectations
    (Economic Policy Research Center, 2009) Bategeka, Lawrence; Kiiza, Julius; Ssewanyana, Sarah
    This paper discusses the management of expectations associated with the recent discovery of commercialisable oil (and gas) in Uganda. No commercial oil was flowing at the time of research and no oil revenues are expected until after 2013. The ‘early production agreement’ reached between Uganda and the oil companies (particularly Tullow Oil and Gas company) prioritizes the production of 50–100 megawatts of electricity that will be added on to the national grid by the late-2009.1 However, the additional electricity will remain below the country’s requirements. Yet, Ugandans – at the national, local government and community levels – appear to be nursing high expectations (but also apprehension) related to oil discovery. For some stakeholders, Uganda is on the verge of becoming an OPEC powerhouse. For others, oil discovery is likely to be a curse rather than a blessing. The key challenge for this paper is to understand the extent to which Uganda’s powers-that-be are effectively managing the positive expectations and the anxieties over what might go wrong.
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    Righting Resource-Curse Wrongs in Uganda: The Case of Oil Discovery and the Management of Popular Expectations
    (Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), 2011) Kiiza, Julius; Bategeka, Lawrence; Ssewanyana, Sarah
    This paper discusses the management of expectations associated with the recent discovery of commercializable oil in Uganda. Our motivation is simultaneously theoretical and pragmatic. Theoretically, resource abundance oftentimes begets a natural resource-curse, that is, the tendency for resource-rich countries to attain poorer developmental outcomes than resourcepoor countries (Auty, 1993; Collier et al, 2004). Practically, oil development in Uganda appears set to create winners and losers. Four categories of winners are spelt out in Uganda’s Oil and Gas Policy – the central government; the oil companies; the district local governments of the oilrich areas; and the land owners. The oil-rich lands have not been nationalized to make all Ugandans winners. Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom (hereafter: ‘Bunyoro Kingdom’) also complains that it has been left out. Yet, it has a historical and cultural claim over the oil-rich lands. Sections of the local community, whose environment could be contaminated by oil-spills, are also concerned that no context-specific environmental safeguards have been developed.