URA To Save Billions In Rent, 1700 Staff To Operate In Nakawa

By Prince Rumanyika IV

The URA Headquarters is a twenty two (22) floor building divided into four podiums and eighteen tower floors totalling to 26,021 square metres.

The development also provide for a car parking structure for 360 cars plus surface parking for 710 vehicles.

The total area of the parking structure is 12,923 square metres with five (5) levels for parking and the sixth level designed to house a crèche for breastfeeding staff , gym, Sauna, Unisex Saloon etc.

The building is designed to be Green with an Intelligent Building Management System (BMS) and other ICT Innovations, making it a high performance building.

At peak in 10 years’ time, the building will accommodate up to 1,700 staff. The total project is UGX.139 Bn in a construction period of 36 months and post construction defect liability period of 12 months.

The project is fully funded by the Government of Uganda.
Structural works for the main tower, parking building and conference hall is 99% completed. Final finishes works are in process.

The overall objective of the Project is to provide infrastructure for better service delivery and the strategy is to have all URA back office operation in Kampala, Mukono and Entebbe converge at Nakawa in the proposed HQs building.

This is expected to reduce the cost of doing business for taxpayers through provision of one-stop-service-centre and savings on rent, transport, ICT connectivity, security, courier services, for URA.

It is envisaged that only tax information centres will remain operational in central Kampala and its environs after the closure of the main tax offices in Kampala East, North, Central, Entebbe and Mukono.
Projects Benefits

1.1 It will facilitate a full integration of the back office service to support the self service business model of e-transactions, under one roof, while maintaining only tax payers’ service centres. It is expected that URA will offer faster and better services to clients resulting from process integration while reducing administrative costs to the taxpayer and URA.

1.2 Also, we invest to save a lot of money into rented buildings in terms of IT installations, renovations at time of vacating, minor maintenance, etc. Sometimes rent is increased and we fail to vacate due to the high costs of shifting, business interruption and investments already put into the rented building in terms of IT installations.

1.3 The need to provide quality services at a single point. Our clients keep moving from premises to premises in search for URA service because of working in silos.

1.4 Improving the URA Image and corporate branding in the Public domain. URA has been the only revenue administration body in the EAC Region without a befitting headquarters building.

1.5 Improved staff productivity through provision of adequate working environment. The proposed tower will provide modern office facilities that support URA’s current and future work methods of different departments. For example the building will house modern forensic and science laboratories that support Tax Investigations, Customs and Domestic Taxes operations.

1.6 Improved security of vital URA computer and other records through provision of state-of-the-art and round the clock security.

1.7 The Green Building Concept that utilizes ICT to efficiently manage operating costs. The automation is expected to considerably reduce the cost of energy for lifts, AC, lighting and water usage within the building in line with current and future environmental standards.

1.8 The new office building will contribute to considerable savings in direct operating costs such as office rent, provision of ICT infrastructure between Nakawa and different offices e.g. URA Training School along Rotary Avenue, Crested Towers, transport and fuel costs, security services at different sites, cost of operating generators, etc.