The Uganda Bureau of Statistics has publicly challenged the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance’s National Data Strategy, saying its proposed governance arrangements encroach on the bureau’s statutory role in coordinating the National Statistical System.

In a statement dated 21 October, signed by executive director and chief statistician Chris N. Mukiza, Ubos said the strategy breached the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Act, 1998, Cap 333.

The bureau called the strategy an “existential threat” to the Act and said it was “illegal, irregular, redundant and adds no value” to the National Statistical System. It advised the public to treat the plan “with the utmost contempt it deserves”.

The dispute concerns whether the proposed governance bodies duplicate powers Parliament assigned to Ubos.

The ministry launched the five-year strategy at Mestil Hotel in Kampala on 20 October. The strategy is costed at Shs1.7tn ($397.8mn) to be financed through government budgets, development partners, the private sector and projected non-tax revenue from data services.

It proposes a National Data Steering Committee and a National Data Office within the ICT ministry. The committee, chaired by the finance ministry and co-chaired by the Office of the Prime Minister, would make policy decisions, guide implementation and oversee reports and evaluations.

Its responsibilities include reviewing and approving recommendations for data initiatives in the public and private sectors, and endorsing data-related proposals, reports and studies. The ministry would provide its secretariat.

The proposed approval role appears to overlap with functions the Ubos Act assigns to the bureau, including coordinating the National Statistical System and reviewing data-collection initiatives.

The Act also gives Ubos responsibility for standardising the collection, analysis and publication of statistics, collecting administrative statistics and maintaining a central repository of statistical reports and data.

It says national censuses and surveys proposed by other agencies must be presented to the Ubos board for consideration and approval. Other lead agencies must cooperate with the bureau in carrying out its functions.

The strategy recognises Ubos as part of Uganda’s existing data institutional framework and refers to its Plan for National Statistical Development. But the proposed steering committee’s membership is set out in broad categories and does not guarantee Ubos a named seat.

The ministry says the strategy followed consultations with government institutions, development partners, academia, civil society and the private sector. Its remit extends beyond official statistics to data from public and private sources, in digital and non-digital forms.

The strategy covers digital infrastructure, security, sharing and use of data; the Act governs the National Statistical System. The unresolved question is whether the proposed bodies can operate alongside the functions the law assigns to Ubos.

($1 = Shs4,180, Bank of Uganda mid-rate, 21 October)