URA Raids KFC’s Kololo Office

Kampala: Kuku Foods Uganda Ltd, the operator of KFC, has issued a sharp protest to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) after armed officials raided its Kampala offices on Nov. 19.2025, Chimp Corps report.

URA officials say the inquiries relate to discrepancies in declared income over the period between 2019 and 2022.

In a letter dated Nov. 20 to Commissioner General John Musinguzi, the company said the operation was “exceptional in character, disproportionate in execution and wholly inconsistent with the standards expected in the lawful administration of tax matters.”

Kuku Foods said URA’s Investigations Department “stormed our offices with armed personnel… causing significant alarm among our staff and creating an atmosphere entirely incompatible with the cooperative and transparent relationship we have consistently sought to maintain.”

Staff were kept under watch “up to 1 o’clock at night,” and the manner in which officers moved through the premises “bore no resemblance to a routine tax inquiry. It mirrored a security raid.”

The company argued URA bypassed the mandatory procedure under the Tax Procedures Code.

“We must ask whether URA issued any information notice to us that remained unanswered. If no such notice was served, it is difficult to understand how the deployment of soldiers… could be regarded as proportionate or procedurally justified,” the letter said.

Kuku Foods added that any information URA required “could have been provided promptly and lawfully upon proper request.”

However, URA officials who preferred anonymity, said the surprise visit at Kuku Foods office was meant to obtain critical information to aid investigations.

“Imagine what would have happened if we had informed them (Kuku Foods) in advance about our planned visit to their Kololo office,” said a source, adding, “This is a big tax investigation involving billions of shillings and we are not leaving anthing to chance.”

On its part, Kuku Foods accused URA officers of accessing devices and extracting data “without demonstrating adherence to the mandatory standards set under the Data Protection and Privacy Act… nor explaining how extracted information would be protected, how its integrity would be maintained, or how chain-of-custody would be preserved.”

The omissions, the company said, “place us at risk of technical breaches entirely through the actions of URA.”

The company further objected to URA’s decision to reopen taxes for 2019–2022. It said the period March 2018 to February 2022 had already been “conclusively audited,” with an Audit Management Letter issued on March 21, 2023, and all assessments settled.

“A concluded audit carries legal significance… except in the most exceptional circumstances.” Reopening such a period, the company wrote, requires “credible evidence of fraud, willful neglect or material misrepresentation… none of which were articulated in the notice or presented during the visit.”

“When previously audited periods can be revived without explanation… it signals that administrative decisions lack permanence and that the boundaries of URA’s authority are being inconsistently applied. Such unpredictability is fundamentally incompatible with stable business planning and long-term investment,” the company wrote.

Dispute

The confrontation comes months after the Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled against Kuku Foods in April 2025, when the company sought to restrain URA from adjusting its tax losses.

Tribunal Chairperson Crystal Kabajwara held that Kuku Foods had “not met all the conditions necessary for the grant of the temporary injunction,” though the company was not required to pay 30% of the disputed tax because a final assessment had not been issued.

The underlying dispute originated from a URA audit covering March 2018 to February 2022, which reduced Kuku Foods’ declared tax losses from Shs 16.8 billion to Shs 8.3 billion after citing undeclared income and disallowed expenses.

The company challenged the findings under TAT Application No. 287 of 2024.

Kuku Foods Uganda, which holds exclusive rights for the KFC brand and operates outlets in Kampala, forms part of Kuku Foods East Africa Holdings, the franchise operator in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The company recently embarked on an expansion drive, opening branches in Bulenga, Gayaza Road and Kireka among others.

Kuku Foods said in the ten months to October 2025 alone, “we have remitted in excess of Shs 24.7 billion in direct and indirect taxes to the Government. This includes approximately Shs 1.4 billion in PAYE, Shs 1.1 billion in income tax, Shs 2.6 billion in withholding tax, Shs 12.7 billion in VAT and Shs 6.9 billion in import duties. These are cash taxes already collected by URA and applied to the national budget, separate from any disputes or future assessments.”

The company added: “Over the same period, we have purchased more than Shs 43 billion worth of goods and services from Ugandan suppliers, many of whom are small and medium enterprises in agriculture, logistics and other critical sectors. We have also invested in excess of Shs 18.3 billion in capital expenditure on new and refurbished outlets, locking in long-term investment that supports growth, urban renewal and formal sector employment.”