Uganda Registration Services Bureau Act

The Act comes into force on a date appointed by the Minister by statutory instrument.

Provides definitions of terms used in this Act (appointed member, board, bureau, chairperson, member, Minister, Registrar General, relevant laws, revenue, secretary).

Establishes the Uganda Registration Services Bureau as a corporate body and grants it powers to sue or be sued, hold property, enter contracts, and perform acts incidental to corporate bodies.

The bureau must perform specified functions including administering relevant laws, providing registration services, collecting revenue, advising Government, maintaining registers, conducting research, charging fees, and acting as agent for stamp duty; the Registrar General is deemed the revenue authority (subject to subsection (3)).

Board members with a personal interest must disclose that interest at the meeting; disclosures must be recorded; affected members must not participate in deliberation or decision; if quorum is lacking because of such exclusion, the other members present may postpone the matter until quorum is realised or proceed and decide as if there were a quorum.

A vacancy, defect in appointment, or participation by someone not entitled does not affect the validity of any proceedings of the board.

The Minister must appoint the chairperson and certain board members from among persons with relevant knowledge and proven experience.

Appointed members hold office for three years; the Minister may revoke appointments in writing for specified grounds, may appoint replacements when members are incapacitated, and appointed members may resign by written notice to the Minister which takes effect on receipt.

The board must perform specified functions for the bureau, including policy formulation, carrying out bureau objectives, setting annual targets, monitoring management performance, determining structure and staffing, supervising property and business management, and performing other functions prescribed by the Act or directed by the Minister.

The Second Schedule applies to board meetings; the board may invite any person as consultant or adviser, but that person has no right to vote at that meeting.

Board members and any person who attends board meetings may be paid remuneration or allowances at rates determined by the board with the Minister's approval.

The board may establish committees and subcommittees and assign functions to them; committee decisions must be confirmed by the board before implementation.

The board must prescribe the procedure for committees or subcommittees established under section 12, except where this Act expressly provides otherwise.

The Registrar General is the bureau's chief executive and is responsible for daily operations, funds, property, and staff; is to be appointed by the Minister on the board's recommendation; may be removed by the Minister on the board's recommendation for infirmity, misbehaviour or incompetence; and must be qualified for appointment as a High Court judge.

The board appoints a secretary; the secretary must carry out board-directed functions and is responsible for arranging board business, taking minutes, and keeping records, and is responsible to the Registrar General.

The board must engage necessary officers and employees; those officers hold office on terms determined by the board. The board may set pay and require pension contributions, public officers may be seconded to assist, and the board may delegate its powers under subsection (1).

The board may, with the Registrar General's advice and in consultation with the Minister, engage experts and consultants for bureau functions where they have special competence; such experts may be paid fees and afforded facilities as the board determines.

All revenue collected by or due to the bureau under this Act must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

The bureau may invest funds that are not immediately required for its functions, but only with the written approval of the Minister.

The bureau may obtain loans and credit facilities with the Minister's prior approval; the board may borrow sums for current obligations; the Government may guarantee such loans with the Minister's prior approval.

The bureau must prepare and submit annual estimates to the Minister for approval within three months before each financial year, must submit supplementary estimates when necessary before the end of a financial year, and no expenditure may be made from the bureau's funds unless approved in those estimates.

The board must prepare an annual statement of account (including a performance report) within three months after the financial year ends, subject to Ministerial directions; the bureau must keep proper books and records of its income and expenditure.

Audits: The Auditor General or an auditor appointed by the Auditor General must audit the bureau's accounts each financial year; the board must submit the statement of account within four months after year-end for auditing and must deliver audited accounts and the auditor's report to the Minister.

Defines the bureau's financial year as twelve months from 1st July to 30th June, with the first financial year running from commencement of the Act to the next 30th June.

Registrations referred to in section 4 must be carried out according to the relevant laws under which the registration is made, and the registers must be maintained as prescribed under those laws.

The bureau must maintain branch offices outside its headquarters in locations necessary and practical to achieve operational efficiency.

The board decides the form of the bureau's seal; the seal must be authenticated by signatures of the Registrar General and the secretary (or their acting officers), signatures must be independent of witnesses, and the secretary keeps custody of the seal.

The Minister may give written general directions to the bureau after consulting the Registrar General, and the bureau must comply with those directions.

The board must prepare and submit to the Minister an annual report on the bureau's activities and operations within three months after the end of each financial year.

The Minister must each year submit to Parliament, as soon as possible after receiving them, the auditor’s report and the bureau's annual report.

Members of the board, employees, and persons acting on behalf of the bureau are exempt from personal liability in civil or criminal proceedings for acts or omissions done in good faith while performing their duties.

The Minister may, after consulting the board and by statutory instrument, make regulations to give effect to this Act.

The Minister may amend the First and Second Schedules to the Act by statutory instrument, subject respectively to the approval of Parliament (First Schedule) and to the advice of the board (Second Schedule).

On the date this Act commences, all property that immediately before commencement was vested in the Government for the use of the Registrar General (except property the Minister specifies otherwise in writing) vests in the bureau, subject to existing interests, liabilities, charges, obligations and trusts.

Pending legal proceedings and claims relating to actions and activities covered by the relevant laws must be continued or enforced by or against the bureau as if the Act had not been enacted.

Replaces the word "Registrar" with "Registrar General" in relevant laws; declares the Registrar General to be the official receiver in the Bankruptcy Act; allows the Minister, within twelve months after commencement and with parliamentary approval by resolution via statutory instrument, to modify relevant laws to conform with this Act.