Women Shaping Uganda's Tax Ecosystem
Doris Akol — Former Commissioner General, Uganda Revenue Authority-(URA)
@DDorisAkol is a Ugandan tax lawyer and revenue administration expert whose career spans nearly three decades in tax law, governance, and public finance. She began her professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) in 1995 as a Legal Officer. Over the years, she rose through the institution’s ranks, eventually serving as Commissioner for Legal Services and Board Secretary before being appointed Commissioner General in November 2014.
During her years in URA’s legal department, Akol played an important role in strengthening the authority’s legal capacity and defending the government’s tax interests in complex litigation. Her legal expertise contributed to landmark tax disputes involving multinational oil companies such as Heritage and Tullow, cases through which Uganda secured significant capital gains tax revenues and reinforced the principle that international investors operating in Uganda must comply with the country’s tax laws.
As Commissioner General from 2014 to 2020, Akol focused on expanding the tax base, strengthening compliance systems, and improving the efficiency of revenue administration. Under her leadership, Uganda’s domestic tax revenue grew by more than 83 percent—from approximately UGX 9.9 trillion in FY2014/15 to UGX 16.6 trillion by FY2018/19—while URA cumulatively collected about UGX 65 trillion during her tenure. Over the same period, the national taxpayer register nearly doubled, increasing from about 763,000 taxpayers to more than 1.48 million.
She championed reforms aimed at widening the tax base and strengthening compliance, including initiatives such as the Tax Registration Expansion Programme (TREP) and the block management system, which improved taxpayer identification by physically mapping businesses across the country. These efforts helped bring more informal enterprises into the tax system and strengthened domestic revenue mobilisation.
Beyond revenue performance, Akol oversaw important institutional modernization efforts within URA, including strengthening corporate governance structures, advancing digital tax administration reforms, and completing the authority’s permanent headquarters—the iconic 22-storey URA Towers in Nakawa—which consolidated URA operations and reduced government expenditure on office rentals.
Following her tenure at URA, Akol transitioned into international and private-sector roles. She joined Dentons Uganda (Kyagaba & Otatiina Advocates) as a Partner in the firm’s tax and public sector practice, advising on tax policy, revenue administration, and regulatory engagements. She later joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where she currently serves as a Senior Economist in the Fiscal Affairs Department in Washington, DC, supporting technical assistance programmes and medium-term revenue reform initiatives aimed at strengthening tax capacity in developing economies.
Akol is also a Chartered Secretary and Governance Professional, an Advocate of the Courts of Judicature in Uganda, and a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland. Her work continues to focus on tax administration reform, governance, and public policy advisory.
As we commemorate International Women’s Day and Month, Doris Akol stands out as one of the key architects of Uganda’s modern tax administration—combining legal expertise, institutional leadership, and policy influence to expand domestic revenue mobilisation and strengthen the rule of law in taxation.
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