PCA recently hosted a team from the National Medical Stores who visited to benchmark on communication and IT processes.

The team was tipped on, among other things, crisis communication, leveraging digital media, branding, stakeholder management, developing newsletters, and IT systems.

Robert Kalumba, the Ag. Assistant Commissioner for Public and Corporate Affairs, shared insights on crisis communication, highlighting some of the strategies URA employs to effectively navigate and mitigate potential crises.

He advised the team to remain calm in times of crisis and use the media to disseminate information such as statements and press releases. He also tipped the team to refrain from providing “half-baked” answers and instead gather the facts before responding.

Ibrahim K. Bbossa, the Assistant Commissioner of Tax Education, expounded on URA’s mandate, stating that contrary to popular belief, the taxman is only charged with collecting, assessing, and accounting for revenue.

“We are supposed to be accountable to our supervisors, but sometimes we end up being accountable to the taxpayers because of our proximity to them,” Bbossa explained.

By the end of the exercise, NMS had learned the best practices in public relations, how to enhance its brand reputation, and PR management in general.

By Irene Kabakama