Mercy Kainobwisho’s Strategic Reforms at URSB Put Registration Mafias & Night Dancers on Notice

How a reform-driven Registrar General transformed Uganda’s business registry, tightened compliance and strengthened the fight against fraudulent registrations

KAMPALA — For years, Uganda’s registration environment carried the burden of slow processes, fragmented systems, weak transparency and the possibility of abuse by individuals seeking to manipulate corporate and registration records.

Then came a different approach.

When Ms Kainobwisho assumed office as Registrar General of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) in December 2020, she inherited an institution operating through largely manual and fragmented systems, while facing rising demands for faster services, greater transparency and tougher compliance with international standards.

Her response was not simply to make URSB faster. It was to make the institution more difficult to manipulate.

The five-year performance report covering FY 2020/21 to the first half of FY 2025/26 paints a picture of an institution undergoing a fundamental transformation — from a largely administrative registry into a strategic institution supporting corporate transparency, financial integrity, access to finance and regulatory enforcement.

At the centre of that transformation has been a strategy built around digitalisation, stronger laws, accountable staff, better records and greater transparency of who actually owns and controls companies.

Closing the loopholes

One of the most consequential reforms has been the strengthening of Beneficial Ownership transparency. The reforms improved the availability, accuracy and accessibility of information about the people who ultimately own or control companies and partnerships.

According to the report, these measures formed part of Uganda’s wider response to anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism requirements and contributed significantly to Uganda’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

That matters because opaque ownership structures can make it difficult for regulators and law-enforcement authorities to determine who is behind a company.

By strengthening ownership information, URSB has effectively moved the registry closer to becoming a tool for transparency and enforcement rather than simply a place where documents are filed.

The report says the reforms strengthened corporate transparency, investor confidence and the integrity of Uganda’s financial system.

A harder environment for fraudulent registrations

Perhaps one of the clearest indications of the new institutional direction is URSB’s strengthened handling of fraudulent registrations, misrepresentation and statutory non-compliance.

The report specifically records improvements in litigation management and legal advisory functions, with strategic handling of cases involving fraudulent registrations and misrepresentation aimed at protecting the integrity of public registers and strengthening enforcement of regulatory standards.

This is where the popular language about ”registration mafias & night dancers” finds its strongest factual footing; not as a claim that a particular organised mafia has been exposed, but as a description of the type of abuse that stronger systems are designed to frustrate.

In other words, the message from the new URSB architecture is simple: fraudulent registration, false representation and deliberate non-compliance should find fewer places to hide.

From paper files to digital scrutiny

Kainobwisho’s strategy has also attacked one of the vulnerabilities inherent in manual systems: dependence on physical files and lengthy processes.

Under her tenure, URSB transitioned towards a largely digital, end-to-end service environment built around systems including the Online Business Registration System (OBRS), Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), digital SIMPO operations and online intellectual property services.

The results have been dramatic.

Business registration turnaround times that previously took between one and three working days were progressively reduced. By FY2024/25 and FY2025/26, business name registrations could be completed in approximately 30 minutes, while company registrations could take about three to four hours.

Digitalisation also reduces unnecessary physical interaction and creates clearer transaction trails — an important element in building a more transparent registration environment.

The numbers tell the story

The reforms have not been limited to technology.

URSB’s uptake of registration services grew at an average annual rate of 21.46% between FY2020/21 and FY2024/25. New company registrations increased by 19.5% compared with the previous five-year period, while legal document registrations more than doubled.

The Security Interest in Movable Property Registry recorded an even more striking increase, with security-interest notices rising by 947.8% compared with the preceding five-year period.

Meanwhile, URSB’s non-tax revenue collections increased by 55.2% compared with the preceding five-year period. These figures suggest an institution becoming both more productive and more financially sustainable.

Building an institution that can police itself

Another important part of Kainobwisho’s strategy has been the internal culture of URSB.

The report describes her leadership approach as people-centred but firmly anchored in accountability. Staff numbers increased from 296 in 2020 to 426 in 2025, while the Bureau invested in welfare, training, mobility, clearer workflows and performance management.

More than 100 staff participated in local and international training covering areas such as intellectual property, insolvency, dispute resolution, leadership, governance, digital transformation and emerging risks.

The Bureau also introduced a Young Leaders Programme and strengthened its performance-management systems around measurable targets.

The philosophy appears straightforward: empower officers, give them the tools to perform, and hold them accountable for results.

That combination — stronger people, stronger systems and stronger rules — is arguably the most important part of the reform story.

URSB also established the foundations of a centralised Non-Individual Register, designed to address fragmentation in the registration of entities such as trusts, religious institutions, NGOs, SACCOs and diplomatic missions.

The report says the previous fragmented arrangements created gaps in oversight, data consistency and compliance monitoring. The new register is intended to improve regulatory coherence, transparency and data integrity.

For a country increasingly concerned with knowing who owns, controls and benefits from legal entities, that is a significant institutional development.

Why the reforms have attracted resistance

Major institutional reforms rarely happen without resistance.

When established processes are replaced with digital systems, ownership information becomes more transparent, enforcement becomes more deliberate and staff are held to measurable standards, those who benefited from weak systems can find the new environment uncomfortable.

That does not, by itself, prove that every critic of Kainobwisho is a “mafia” member or that every person opposing her reforms is involved in wrongdoing.

But it does explain why a reform agenda focused on transparency and accountability can generate friction.

The documented evidence from URSB is stronger than the rhetoric: the Bureau strengthened its legal framework, improved enforcement capacity, introduced beneficial ownership reforms, pursued fraudulent-registration cases and modernised its systems.

A Registrar General betting on systems, not personalities

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Kainobwisho’s tenure is that the reforms are increasingly embedded in institutions rather than dependent solely on an individual.

URSB attained ISO 9001:2015 certification, moved to the Uganda Business Facilitation Centre, strengthened partnerships and invested in systems and human capital. The performance report describes the Bureau as emerging as a more stable, professional and trusted public institution.

The five-year legacy therefore goes beyond one person’s achievements. It is about changing how an institution works.

And if the objective was to make Uganda’s registration environment faster, more transparent, more accountable and more difficult to manipulate, the evidence in URSB’s own performance report suggests that significant ground has been covered.

Mercy K. Kainobwisho’s strategic competence is therefore best judged not by the noise surrounding her tenure, but by the systems, reforms and measurable institutional changes left behind.

For those who thrived in opaque processes, fraudulent registrations and weak compliance, the message from the new URSB is increasingly clear: the old room to manoeuvre is getting smaller.