KYANKWANZI — Mr. John Rujoki Musinguzi, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General has advised graduands to exercise patriotism, exemplify professionalism, live a life of integrity and self leadership if they are to succeed in life.
Mr. Musinguzi was speaking at URA staff pass out ceremony held at the National Leader Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi on Thursday October 1.
A cohort of 250 staff, equipped and empowered as transformational and patriotic leaders was passed out, at an event also graced by Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Matia Kasaija who was the guest of honor.
“As you embark on your next phase of your tour of duty; always remember the following;
Develop Self-Leadership: You have been equipped to become transformational leaders; however, this starts with Self Leadership,” Musinguzi told his staff whom he said will first be rotated to give them practical work experience before they are deployed to the respective departments.
He outlined other attributes including the four pillars of self leadership the graduates should value and embrace such as setting there goals in what they want to become in life, purposefulness, self discipline, living a life of integrity, exemplifying professionalism among others.
“Having a purpose gives you direction which is fundamental when you are making important decisions and gives you greater control over your life. Living purposefully also makes you resilient; knowing your purpose in mind lets you deal with life’s uncertainties and setbacks”, he said.
On accountability, he asked graduands to lead themselves effectively, saying the tasks ahead of them require that they hold themselves to a higher standard of accountability than others do because they are held responsible for their decisions and actions.
“Set high standards and always be honest especially if you come up short,” noted but said integrity is not living a perfect life.
“It does not mean you will not make mistakes. Integrity is growing in good character gradually, little by little, brick by brick. In addition, when one makes a mistake one should acknowledge this, take responsibility, get up and walk again. Every little step we take, little choice we make shapes our character, whether positive or negative so developing integrity is a lifelong process”.
Mr. Rujoki said URA has committed to Talent Development as part of the Employee Value Proposition but said that graduands are accordingly required to consistently demonstrate a high level of work ethic, excellence, competence, professional conduct and good attitude at the workplace that will enhance business performance, and long-term service excellence.
“You will be expected to:
Maximize and optimize all the opportunities wherever you are deployed. Take every opportunity to learn, adapt and grow wherever you are deployed.
Contribute to Innovation: Seek new knowledge and keep improving yourself and the functional areas where you are deployed. Keep suggesting value-adding ideas and initiatives to transform the business.
Duly learn, follow and abide by the stipulated processes, procedures, policies and guidelines.”
On his part, Minister Kasaija commended URA Management for their significant contribution to building patriotic and transformational leaders for the organization and the Nation.
” This concerted effort is commendable because this is building leadership capacity in URA and Uganda at large and this will drive transformation in Uganda, he said, noting that lifting the human capacity at URA is a key objective Domestic Revenue Mobilization Strategy.
He urged graduands to embrace m values, harness the wealth of knowledge acquired and transform themselves, families, URA and the Communities at large.
Mr Ian Rumanyika, Ag. Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs said the course is aimed at Transformational Leadership designed to enable the officers to transform themselves, their environment, their society and their country.
Rumanyika noted that graduands have equipped with the tools of analysis that will give them an objective approach to issues, and enable them to understand the country’s history, geography as well as resources.
Rumanyika added that the ultimate goal of the course is to build and cultivate a culture of sacrifice and commitment to national duty among the officers and make them committed, knowledgeable patriots above all people with integrity.
