KAMPALA, Uganda — The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has deregistered 37,702 companies for failing to comply with statutory filing obligations, in one of the largest corporate clean-up exercises in recent years.
Officials said the move followed years of public notices, reminders and engagement efforts aimed at prompting non-compliant firms to regularise their status, but many failed to respond.
A list of the affected companies has since been published on the URSB website, confirming that they are no longer recognised as legally registered entities in Uganda.
Compliance notices ignored
According to URSB Principal Communications Officer Denis Nabende, the deregistration followed extended warnings issued to dormant and non-compliant companies, particularly those that had failed to file annual returns.
“We actually put out a notice in July and August 2023 requiring companies that had not filed their returns and had been struck off to come back to URSB and indicate that they were going to regularize and then be brought back onto the register,” Nabende said.
“But between July 2023 and now, many did not come back.”
Nabende explained that annual returns are a legal requirement used to confirm that a company remains active and that its core governance structure has not changed.
“Those returns indicate that the company is still alive. Nothing has changed in terms of shareholders and the directors are still the same,” he said.
He further noted that some businesses are registered for specific short-term purposes and are later abandoned once those objectives are achieved or operations cease.
Years of non-compliance
URSB said the affected companies had failed to meet statutory obligations for at least five years, despite repeated opportunities to comply and warnings about potential deregistration.
The bureau maintains that the exercise is part of strengthening corporate governance and improving the integrity of the national business registry.
Concerns over impact on business sector
However, the large-scale deregistration has raised concern among economists and business associations, who warn that the move could have broader implications for Uganda’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
John Walugembe, Chairperson of the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said many of the affected firms may not resume operations, leading to lost economic activity and reduced private sector participation.
“Instead of deregistering, URSB should have done more to look for those companies and hand-hold them because it is easier to turn these non-compliant companies into compliant companies than to get someone to register afresh,” Walugembe said.
He also urged URSB to strengthen its digital compliance systems in a way that considers businesses operating in remote areas with limited infrastructure.
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“At the level of efficiency, I would say URSB has improved. But what we are saying is that improved efficiency should not be at the expense of entrepreneurs. Look at that entrepreneur in Zombo where electricity is not there for three months. How is he going to upload a resolution, internet and all?” he posed.
Balancing enforcement and enterprise growth
Uganda continues to record thousands of new business registrations annually, reflecting a growing entrepreneurial environment. However, many enterprises struggle to survive beyond their initial years due to financial constraints, operational challenges and regulatory compliance burdens.
The deregistration exercise highlights the ongoing tension between enforcing corporate compliance standards and supporting business continuity in a developing economy.
URSB says the clean-up is necessary to maintain an accurate and reliable company registry, while critics argue that more supportive compliance mechanisms may be needed to prevent unnecessary business closures.
