Uganda Tax Compliance
RippleNami — Uganda Revenue Authority
Result
Tax revenue +36% in first 7 months · largest quarter ever recorded · 30% under budget
Situation
The Uganda Revenue Authority had a systemic tax compliance problem. When we analyzed the data, only 2% of potential taxpayers were compliant. The government knew revenue was leaking but had no way to identify who wasn't paying. Eight separate government databases existed — each with different schemas, inconsistent records, and separate ownership — none of them connected. Many believed this system simply could not be built. The program was a $3M mandate with high political sensitivity.
Task
Build a first-of-its-kind national tax compliance system that could merge those 8 data sources, resolve identities across inconsistent records, and surface non-compliant taxpayers with enough confidence to act on — within budget, on schedule, and in a politically charged environment. This was the first and only system in the world merging local property data with federal tax data.
Action
Led the full program as CPO at RippleNami. Architected identity resolution and fuzzy matching across all 8 sources to reconcile inconsistent records. Designed a cloud-based PaaS using HyperLedger blockchain for data integrity, microservices for CI/CD, and an autogenerated data pipeline (Dagster). Tech stack: OrientDB graph database, MinIO storage, GraphQL/PostgreSQL, Hasura, and React. Built advanced role-based access controls for politically sensitive data access. Managed a 25-person team of product managers, developers, and QA — absorbing government-side delays and scope expansions without blowing the budget.
Result
Tax revenue increased 36% within the first 7 months of general availability — the highest revenue quarter the Uganda Revenue Authority had ever recorded. The full $3M program was delivered 30% under budget despite delays in data delivery and expanded scope from the government.
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