The operators of fast-food restaurant chain, KFC Uganda, have raised a red flag over what they described as a high-handed manner in which they are being handled by the tax collector.
As a result, the investor says their confidence has been seriously hurt following the military-like raid on their premises.
This publication has seen a protest letter from Kuku Foods Uganda Limited, the operator of KFC restaurants in Uganda, detailing Uganda Revenue Authority intrusive and overbearing engagement despite the fast-food restaurant chain being one of the major investors in the hospitality sector.
When contacted, URA spokesperson, Mr Robert Kalumba, said allegations being levelled by the KFC investors are overblown out of context.
“That account of events as reported is over exaggerated and so far from the trut,’ he said.
The letter, dated 20th November 2025 and addressed to the URA Commissioner General, appears to condemn the manner in which an enforcement operation was conducted at their offices, with the Kuku Foods investors, describing the development as violation of legal procedure, departing from established administrative practice.
According to the company, URA officers accompanied by armed personnel entered its Kampala offices on 19th November and remained there from morning until almost midnight, forcefully extracting electronic information from company devices without prior notice and under armed supervision.
Kuku Foods stresses that while Ugandan law grants the tax authority power to enter a taxpayer’s premises, those powers are meant to be exercised through a defined sequence of steps that typically begins with a written request for information.
The company says it had received no such request, nor had it ignored or failed to comply with any statutory obligation. It notes that the scale and manner of the operation were excessive and unjustified, raising serious concerns about necessity, proportionality and adherence to lawful procedures.
The company further protests URA’s decision to reopen a tax audit covering July 2019 to February 2022., a period Kuku Foods investors said accounted for and ‘fully audited.’
Note that reopening a concluded audit is legally permissible but only under grounds of fraud or deliberate misrepresentation, none of which URA has alleged or communicated to the investors, according to the letter.
URA officers reportedly accessed devices and extracted information without clarifying how the data would be stored, secured or utilised. Kuku Foods argues that such opacity exposes it to legal risk under Uganda’s data protection laws, particularly given its position as a multinational franchise operator holding sensitive employment, customer and operational data.
This is not the first case. For a while now businesses across sectors have reported repeat audits, reversals of administrative positions without explanation and aggressive adversarial enforcement actions that disrupt operations.
These trends have become recurrent themes in investor conversations and policy dialogues, intensifying debate about the stability and clarity of Uganda’s tax administration environment at a time when the country is seeking to attract long-term investment.
According to civil society organizations, Uganda’s tax regime is not progressive, calling for predictable and fair tax regime across sectors.
In its letter, Kuku Foods asks URA to explain the legal basis for reopening previously audited years and requests that any inquiry be confined to the unexamined period beginning March 2022. The company also seeks written assurances that future engagements will follow legally prescribed procedures. It notes that it may consider legal recourse should the issues remain unresolved.
According to the investors, this matter, if not handled amicably, could raise questions over treatment of investors by the tax collector.