Rosemary Kisembo: The ICT tech-savvy lady at helm of NIRA

At her installation, her line minister at the time, Gen Jeje Odongo, said her first task would be to neaten the negative public perception of NIRA, saying Ugandans deserve more than what they are getting.

“All Ugandans have a right to be registered and are entitled to the national IDs. Out of 42 million, only 25 have been registered, so what happened to the rest? When I come to Kololo, I don’t want to see crowds here waiting for services as if this is a market place,” Gen Odongo ordered.

That is the task that awaits Ms Kisembo as she steps into the shoes of Judith Obitre Gama, the NIRA pioneer chief executive whose contract expired last year.

An information technology (IT) specialist, Ms Kisembo started off with A B.Com from Makerere University in 1995. She then went on to earn MSC in Science in Information Systems from Makerere University in 2008. Ms Kisembo also holds several certified qualifications in ICT.

Born to Mr Sylvester Wenkere Kisembo and Ms Dolika Nkende Kisembo in a family of seven, Ms Kisembo went to Kitante Primary School and Buganda Road Primary School before joining Gayaza High School for her Ordinary and Advanced levels. 

“I was very playful and hated waking up early to go to school. My earliest recollection of my father was him singing stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross to wake me up,” she cheerfully says.

Asked about her village and memories from childhood, Kisembo said she prefers to call herself a Ugandan instead of identifying with her place of origin.

Her late father was a member of the Constitutional Review Commission, which solicited views for the framing of the 1995 Constitution. He was also the author of the first book on decentralisation in the country, while her late mother was a registered nurse and midwife, who Kisembo called a “very strict disciplinarian.”

In 1983 as a youth, Kisembo became born-again, saying her faith in Jesus Christ has shaped her later developments in life, which she cherishes to date.

“I gave my life to Jesus on November 26, 1983. My faith has hugely shaped my life’s journeys. I joined Rubaga Miracle Centre in 1994 and that has become another turning point in my life,” she says.
Kisembo says she was entrusted with responsibilities at tender age, and this has played a big role in her later stages of life.

“I am greatly indebted to Pastors Jessica and Robert Kayanja of the Miracle Centre Cathedral. They were the first outside my biological family to entrust me with responsibility. Gayaza was a training ground for me and I am also indebted to my friends and work colleagues over the years,” she says.

Professional journey
Shortly after graduating in 1995 with B.Com, Kisembo joined the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), rising through the ranks up to become head of corporate affairs. She developed systems that have improved revenue collections. 

In her 26-year career, she has designed and implemented robust ICT integrations in the operations of URA where she spent 20 years before switching to Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra). 

She designed at URA core systems that have helped to transform operations from analogue to digital. Today, URA boasts of cross-functional integration of VAT, Income Tax, PAYE and Motor Vehicle Registration and Customs Cargo Tracking functions, which were also designed by Ms Kisembo.

After leaving URA in 2016, she together with Allen Kagina and a number of others, moved to Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) where she was appointed head of IT until her elevation to post of executive director of NIRA.
At Unra, she was credited for designing, aligning and executing the organisation’s ICT strategy.

She developed policies and standard operating procedures for department, carried out wide ranging process design, analysis, and acquisition of technologies, including enterprise resource planning and project management tools in Unra. 

Kisembo possesses core competencies in technical requirements specification, system design, development and deployment with rich experience in implementing tax administration information systems, business applications and solutions as well as providing leadership to development and business analysis teams.  She also has experience in software development in Visual Studio. Net Platform and SQL Server back end. 

She is credited for providing management, leadership, oversight and direction for software development teams, system and user acceptance testing teams and business process re-engineering teams. She carried out research, statistical analysis and domestic tax performance reporting and revenue projections.

“My professional career in IT was hugely shaped by my former boss in URA, James Kizza. My other leaders in the market like Allen Kagina, and Edna Rugumayo have taught me a great deal,” she says.

At Unra, she is fondly referred to as Rosa the mover of things. Allan Ssempebwa, the Unra head of communications, says at Unra, they are celebrating her appointment.

“She is a mover of things. She is very passionate at her work. She has been architect of many of our online platforms that she has put in place at Unra. She is very innovative and has been behind many of our installation, systems of automation and stability in many of our operations. We should be congratulating ourselves because in Rosa we have got a person who drives things forward. NIRA is lucky to have got her,” Ssempebwa says.

He says Ms Kisembo was behind many of the innovations at Unra that have led to improvement of revenue collections. 
He mentions some of them as e-tax collection system and a number of others that have made the authority what it is today. 

Profile. 

Year of birth: 1973
Parents: Mr Sylvester Wenkere Kisembo & Ms Dolika Nkende Kisembo
Number of siblings: six
Schools attended:  Kitante Primary School, Buganda Road Primary School
Gayaza High School for her Ordinary and Advanced Levels.   
Makerere University for Bachelors and Master degrees.