eCitie — Kampala's GIS-Based Digital Property Tax System

Like many African capitals, Kampala historically struggled to raise local revenue because it lacked a reliable register of property ownership and value, and tax collection relied on slow, paper-based, cash-only processes.

With World Bank and Government of Uganda financing under the Kampala Institutional and Infrastructure Development Project, KCCA set out to build a reliable property register through a citywide GIS survey and to modernise tax collection through a self-built digital platform.

Between 2014 and 2019, KCCA carried out a citywide GIS survey, assigning addresses and collecting over 50 ownership and valuation-relevant features for more than 350,000 formal and informal properties. In parallel, KCCA built and funded in-house (about US$2.07 million) eCitie, an open-source web/SMS platform launched in 2013 letting taxpayers view bills and pay via banks or mobile money. A linked business-registration drive brought roughly 110,000 informal businesses into the tax net.

Independent analysis by the International Growth Centre and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy found the share of Kampala's roughly 350,000 properties identified as taxable rose from 47% to 64% after the GIS survey, while city revenue grew from about 30 billion Ugandan shillings (US$9m) in 2011 to 81 billion shillings (US$24m) in 2015, an 89% increase in real terms. In the Central and Nakawa divisions alone, revenue rose from 14 billion to 38 billion shillings between FY2013/14 and FY2018/19. However, compliance remained low because KCCA had limited legal enforcement powers, and revenue collection fell sharply during COVID-19 (an 83% drop in payments, April–June 2020, versus the year before) once in-person outreach stopped.

The case shows digitisation of property records and tax payment channels can substantially raise municipal revenue, but technology alone is not sufficient: sustained gains depend on enforcement capacity and resilient in-person outreach alongside the digital platform.