TAXMAN

A
H
DAIRE
ION GEEK
ugasa Muyiyi
Saleh Kamba works as one of the Tax
Education officers in URA having
joined in 2015. He is soft spoken and
you will most likely find him bent over a
computer with headsets probing research
papers and files with loud music blaring in
the privacy of his ears. His commitment to
work is undeniable. He explores beyond his
scope of work says his supervisor Michael
Masembe.
You will most likely find him in office on a
Saturday or Sunday something we hope will
change when he finds a wife someday.
“I am very inquisitive. I love asking and
listening to people.”
When Saleh joined URA, he wanted to make
a difference. He did not just want to work at
an 8-5pm job.
One of the mandates of the tax education
function in URA is to simplify tax information
and increase its reach. In this regard, URA has
already achieved milestones like translating
tax literature into various local languages,
holding tax katales and Barazas and yet
we still get the cry that we are not doing
enough to reach the masses. So in one of the
unit’s meetings, Saleh proposed an idea; Tax
Education themed games!
“I found good mentors who encourage me to
stretch my ideas until they can be produced.
They are Solomon, Ian, Robert and Michael.”
The evening after the brain storming session,
Saleh could not sleep. He researched on the
practicability of the idea and whether it
would achieve one of our strategic objectives
of creating a taxpaying culture.
While he researched, he could hear Michael’s
voice say; reaching people in their homes
with this information not on TV, or through a
tax officer but some other way. While seated
in a taxi, he reflected on how; in an effective
way and an entertaining way. Target a young
child through an entertaining way.
Behind his dairy are concepts he has
outlined.
Out of the 17, he has been able to write
7 concepts. They include, making TIN
applications possible on mobile phones, the
use of braille’s technology in tax education,
tax buzzes, tax societies (these have been
implemented already)
The games have fully been embraced and
so far three have been developed and in
the stages of testing with various audiences
where URA holds tax barazas and big
outreaches. They are; cards, snakes and
ladders and puzzles.(matatu)
The themes of the games are some of
the key compliance messages that URA
shares on other platforms. Using games to
communicate key compliance messages
has been considered as one of the best
innovations that URA has made, making us
the first tax authority to implement this.
These have been copyrighted with the
Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB)
in partnership with our legal department.
“I am so excited,” Saleh says his face giving
way to a wide smile one of the first during
the interview. This will not stop me from
churning out more ideas.
In the Financial Year 2018/19 the games will
go into production and will be given out to
schools as tokens.
Saleh went to the Uganda Christian University
where he studied Mass Communication and
specialized in Public Relations.
He is one person that has not let his course
model what he can do. He will read anything
about politics, law, current world affairs,
Mathematics and literature.
“Creating ideas is my passion.”
He is currently in the third Semester of
his Masters in International Relations and
Diplomacy a strategic move to embrace the
global village that our environs have become.
Saleh is at the cutting age in a subtle way. He
is one of the quiet members on the team.
Aside from work, Saleh plans to help gifted
children with no access to quality education
to get one.
“Empowering brilliant minds,” he says
pausing to reflect on the weight of the
words.
He glows with life inside.
His favorite foods are kikomando and any
local dishes, like ground nuts and fish.
Saleh Kamba is definitely one brilliant man
to look out for.
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