Browsing by Author "Lakuma, Corti Paul"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Absorption and Implementation Constraint to Uganda’s National Development Plan (NDP)
    (Economic Plicy Research Centre, 2017) Lakuma, Corti Paul; Lwanga, Musa Mayanja
    Budget execution remains a challenge in Uganda. Weak budget disbursements, back-loaded spending procurement delay, inflexibility in budget execution and fiscal incapacity at local government level highlight ongoing challenges and raise a particular concern over the absorptive capacity and quality of budget implementation. To accelerate budget execution in Uganda, this policy brief suggest policy options that will lead to minimization of budget volatility, improvement in budget institutions, delegation and control, transparency and improving the capacity of local government
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    Adequacy and effectiveness of Uganda’s gambling regulatory framework
    (Economic Policy Research Centre, 2016) Ahaibwe, Gemma; Lakuma, Corti Paul; Katunze, Miriam; Mawejje, Joseph
    In light of the likely negative impacts of gambling, the industry needs to be strictly controlled, well regulated and effectively policed. Presently, the gambling industry is regulated by the National Lotteries Board (NLB) and is guided by the National Lotteries Act of 1967, the Gaming and Pool Betting (Control and Taxation) Act of 1968, and an addendum of statutory guidelines introduced in 2012/13. Findings from the desk review and key informant interviews reveal that many facets of the laws relating to lottery and gaming have become obsolete and are not sensitive to the new modes of gambling and the unprecedented growth of the industry. Furthermore, the National Lotteries Board (NLB) has substantial capacity problems and limited statutory powers and is not always able to effectively exercise its mandate herein inhibiting its ability to comprehensively regulate the gambling industry.
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    Challenges of Mobilising Resources to Finance Uganda’s National Development Plan (NDP)
    (2017) Lakuma, Corti Paul; Lwanga, Musa Mayanja
    A fall of global commodity prices and the resultant lower export revenues, reduction in donor financing and the increased expenditure on infrastructure have expanded the budget deficit in Uganda. In addition, the debt market is becoming increasingly costly. Interest payment on both domestic and foreign debt are projected to reach 12 percent of total public expenditures in 2017. This calls for alternative modes of revenue mobilisation. As such, Public Private Partnership (PPPs), improving efficiency in resource utilization, taxing growth sectors such as agriculture and mining, improving VAT collection and implementing policy changes to accommodate temporary macroeconomics shocks will be imperative to both mobilizing resources and financing projects planned under the National Development Plan (NDP).
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    Did the East Africa Community’s Common External Tariff (CET) help Uganda diversify its export products?
    (Economic Policy Research Centre, 2020) Nattabi, Aida Kibirige; Lakuma, Corti Paul
    The East African Community (EAC) States are exporters of mainly primary products, concentrated in the agricultural sector. In 2005, the EAC adopted EAC Custom Union and one of the objectives was to increase the variety and quality of EAC manufactures. As part of the customs union, the EAC partners adopted a Common External Tariff (CET) on commodities designated as sensitive items (SI). There are atleast 53 products on the SI list and these attract an import duty of 25% and above. This brief examines whether the adoption of the CET helped Uganda attain structural transformation of its exports—given this was one of the objective of establishing a SI list. The study follows the analysis by Shinyekwa and Katunze (2016)—a study which examined the trade and welfare implications of adopting the CET. The brief applies indices of structural transformation based on “quality upgrading”—to examine the transformation objective of the CET. The results show that, overall, CET had constrained the ability to upgrade the quality of commodities and manufactures. However, Uganda has made advances in upgrading two commodities—maize and rice. This calls for intensification of research and development, increased investment and incentivising labour to participate in both maize and rice as well as other products with a scope for quality improvement such as milk and cream, and sugar.
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    The Extent of Gambling in Kampala City
    (Economic Policy Research Centre, 2016) Ahaibwe, Gemma; Lakuma, Corti Paul; Katunze, Miriam; Mawejje, Joseph
    At a time when unemployment -particularly youth unemployment- is at its highest levels, there have been concerns that the youth have resorted to gambling as a source of livelihood. However, not so much empirical evidence existed to confirm these allegations regarding the level of participation and characteristics of gambling participants. This brief, based on a baseline survey conducted in Kampala city in April 2015, attempts to fill this vacuum by providing insights into the level of participation in the gambling industry. Survey findings show that gambling is prevalent at 24.3 percent among adults with sports betting as the most popular gambling activity. The majority of gambling participants gamble as a source of livelihood as opposed to leisure, and age, employment status and gender are major determinants in gambling participation. Finally, overall community reaction reflects a fairly negative perception on gambling.
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    Income Tax Evasion in Uganda
    (Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), 2019) Lakuma, Corti Paul
    Uganda, just as many developing countries, collects less than potential tax. The country compares poorly to other low- income countries with regard to income tax revenue mobilization. This paper estimate the baseline amount of tax owed by comparing income amounts reported on the 2015/16 Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) income tax returns with similar income amounts households reported on the 2015/16 Uganda National Panel Survey (UNPS). The paper also combine the UNPS data and the URA income tax data to estimate potential income tax revenue and the scale of tax evasion in Uganda in 2015/16 by income bracket. The gross tax gap was therefore estimated at Ug.Shs 1, 783.31 billion, or 52.73 percent of the baseline tax. The manufacturing, wholesale and retail, information and communication, financial and insurance, real estate, public administration and human health sectors explain Ug.Shs. 1,512.39 of the tax gap, which is 44.72 percent of the baseline tax. The income bracket above Ug.Shs 410,000 explain more than 80 percent of the sectoral default. Approximately 755,217 persons did not file for income tax in 2015/16, which is 39 percent rate of default. Audit and compliance activities managed to recover Ug.Shs 130.37 billion of Ug. Shs. 1,783.31 billion gross tax gap. We recommend for capacity building in data management and in audit and compliance functions.
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    Uganda’s Tea Export Strategy Lies in Increasing Output and Improving Quality
    (Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), 2014) Lakuma, Corti Paul; Munyambonera, Ezra; Guloba, Madina
    Tea is an important export commodity for Uganda. Increasing its output and quality remains at the heart of increasing Uganda’s tea export competitiveness. However, increased export competitiveness hasn’t been achieved due to a number of reasons, some of which are cost of production, limited research, inadequate processing facilities, barriers to land acquisition and poor farmer organization. This is especially true with smallholder farmers who do not have access to some of the resources that estates farmers do. A study by Munyambonera et. al. (2014)1 using data from the International Tea Committee (2012) provide lessons to Uganda on how Kenya increased its export value and volume through increasing of output and improving of quality.
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    Why Uganda needs a Comprehensive Tea Policy and a Tea Authority
    (2014) Lakuma, Corti Paul; Munyambonera, Ezra; Guloba, Madina
    Investments on Ugandan smallholders and estates to improve output, productivity and quality depends on an environment that favours a broad range of interlinked policy measures. These policy measures include land reforms, tea research and extension services, marketing and promotion, and resource mobilization and utilization. The ability of Uganda to address the above enumerated policy measures is impeded by inconsistencies. The inconsistencies arise because of existence of multiple initiatives which create uncertainty among stake holders. A study by Munyambonera et. al (2014)1 using data from the International Tea Committee (2012) draws lessons for Uganda from the approach Kenya used to coordinate the multiple interventions, ministries, departments and agencies in the tea sector-a comprehensive tea policy and a tea authority.