Uganda's Registration Services Bureau (URSB) faced tough questioning from Parliament's Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises over persistent operational problems and financial irregularities in its accounts for the year ended December 2025. Acting Registrar General Ntale Mustapher appeared before the committee on Tuesday to respond to the Auditor General's report, which highlighted a Shs1.1 billion discrepancy in the bureau's property, plant and equipment reporting. The committee found that while the cash flow statement recorded Shs561 million as expenditure on property, plant and equipment, the statement of appropriation showed actual performance of Shs1.699 billion, creating a gap that affected the reported cash balance.
The Auditor General had flagged prolonged downtime of the Online Business Registration System (OBRS) between August 2023 and September 2025, attributed to network failures, storage exhaustion, system misconfiguration, inadequate power backup and human error. MPs questioned whether the URSB had adequately addressed these problems. The bureau responded that it had upgraded storage capacity to approximately 50 terabytes, synchronised three generators for automatic power backup and secured a second internet service provider. These measures had improved system availability to 99%, the URSB said. The bureau also announced it had obtained ISO 9001:2015 certification on December 9, 2025, covering business registration, intellectual property, copyright, registration of security interests and insolvency services.
Data protection emerged as another significant concern. The Auditor General flagged the exposure of personal information, including full dates of birth, through business registration records, breaching the Data Protection and Privacy Act. The URSB introduced redacted forms to prevent disclosure of sensitive information and stopped returning telephone numbers and email addresses in its records. However, officials acknowledged that historical physical files remained a potential exposure risk. MPs also questioned the authenticity of digital signatures on OBRS, with the URSB acknowledging that its print-sign-scan-upload process was inefficient but attributing its continued use to the absence of a government-wide digital signature platform. The bureau said it was engaging the National Information Technology Authority-Uganda and exploring arrangements to allow applicants to sign documents digitally within the registration system.
Parliament raised concerns about service quality, noting that customer queries expected to be resolved within 24 hours sometimes took between 10 and 15 days. The URSB denied routinely requiring physical submissions from investors and company directors outside Uganda, saying the requirement mainly applied to companies that had not updated their records. The bureau disclosed it had 460 staff, including police officers attached to its offices, and said staff training had been constrained by limited funding. MP Ssekitooleko called for stronger operational standards across government agencies, suggesting a minimum 60 percent performance threshold.
The committee also scrutinised significant movements in the URSB's expenditure. Other advances and prepayments had risen from zero to Shs1.323 billion in 2025, and goods and services consumed increased from Shs11 billion to Shs16.569 billion. MPs demanded detailed breakdowns and beneficiary information for these expenditures. The committee questioned government's acquisition of more than 90 percent of Rocco Construction, with one MP arguing this contradicted the push toward a private sector-led economy. The committee chairperson ruled the matter premature and said the committee would revisit it after hearing from other companies.