Jon Kafuko

Advocate.
Programs Manager, @Youth_TJN
Tax Consultant.
Published Author.
Love thy neighbor.

[Jon Kafuko @jon_kafuko]

New Paper: Impact of Uganda’s 2025 Tax Amendments on Youth 🚨📄

https://t.co/nxI3PjBcl7

Uganda’s 2025 tax amendments aim to raise revenue and modernize the system. But will they unlock opportunities for young people or create new barriers?

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

When #Botswana domesticates the SADC PF Model Law on Public Finance Management, it translates a regional standard into binding national law. That means stronger legal #frameworks for how public #money is #collected, #allocated, and #spent. For #youth, it creates enforceable rights to participate in #budget processes, demand accountability from duty bearers, and access public financial information that directly affects their lives. #Youth4TaxJustice

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

This past Monday, the YTJN team joined a breakfast meeting with Uganda's newly elected Youth Members of Parliament (12th Parliament).

The goal was straightforward: build relationships, align on priorities, and identify where Youth CSOs and Youth MPs work together.

Our Team Lead, Allan Murangira Muhereza, presented on tax policy advocacy, fair taxation, and sustainable domestic resource mobilisation. The room included CSO partners across #taxjustice, #mentalhealth, and youth #governance.

Three things came out of the meeting:

1️⃣ Youth MPs and CSO partners are aligned on the need for tax justice conversations at the parliamentary level.
2️⃣ YTJN will prepare a brief on tax policy reforms, including fair taxation and youth and tax justice, for submission to Youth MPs.
3️⃣ The brief feeds directly into the 2026/27 budget cycle through the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs (UPFYA).

Policy change needs youth voices in the room and at the table where decisions are made.

[NTV UGANDA @ntvuganda]

If we say that we are exporting US$2.2 billion worth of coffee, that is a very good figure. The question, however, is: in the value chain, where is that money going and who is benefiting from it? - Allan Muhereza, Team Lead, Youth for Tax Justice Network
#MorningAtNTV

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

📍Notes from Botswana 🇧🇼

"Young people are not a side issue in national development. They are the centre of it."

Those were the words of Hon. Boniface Blancha Mabeo, Member of Parliament, Gamalete Constituency, at today's validation of the Youth-Responsive Budget Position Paper in Gaborone.

A national #budget is a blueprint for national priorities and a social contract between the state and the people.

Hon. Mabeo challenged #Parliament to ask hard questions:
⁉️Are we merely approving budgets, or are we shaping a social contract that reflects citizens' needs?
⁉️Are we creating space for youth voices to influence the decisions that affect their lives?

#Botswana's youthful population is both a challenge to support and an opportunity to invest in. Failing to invest in #education, #skills, #health, and decent work deepens #inequality and wastes human potential.

#Youth4TaxJustice #Botswana #SADC #DRM

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

"A key takeaway from this paper is that meaningful public participation must become routine, not ceremonial, a sentiment I hold dearly and continue to advocate for through the various platforms I lead, such as the Public Accounts Committee." - Hon. Boniface Blancha Mabeo, Member of Parliament, Gamalete Constituency, in his opening remarks this morning.

JOIN HERE - https://t.co/bOaaVB22CU

#Youth4TaxJustice #Botswana #SADC #DRM

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

🇧🇼We're underway in Botswana!!

The goal: Validate a Position Paper with evidence-based recommendations for a youth-responsive budget in Botswana.

JOIN - https://t.co/kuy7mAKNyZ

#Youth4TaxJustice #Botswana #SADC #DRM

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

📍🇧🇼HAPPENING TODAY

YTJN and Botswana Watch Organization are validating a Position Paper with evidence-based recommendations for a youth-responsive budget in Botswana.

📅 3rd June 2026
🕗 0830 HRS CAT
🔗 https://t.co/bOaaVB22CU

Why⁉️
✅Botswana scores 13/100 on Public Participation (Open Budget Survey, 2023)
✅Youth are 60%+ of the population but excluded from fiscal decision-making

Thereafter, the paper will be submitted to the Ministry of Finance and the Parliament of Botswana
#Youth4TaxJustice #Botswana #SADC #DRM

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

On 3rd June 2026, YTJN and Botswana Watch Organization will bring together youth advocates, parliamentarians, civil society, and development partners in Gaborone.

The goal: Validate a Position Paper with evidence-based recommendations for a youth-responsive budget in Botswana.

This follows a February 2026 Pre-Budget Consultative Dialogue that brought 19 participants together, including Members of Parliament, to shape the FY2026/27 national budget.

Why it matters:
- Botswana scores only 13/100 on Public Participation (Open Budget Survey, 2023)
- Youth make up over 60% of the population, yet remain excluded from fiscal decision-making.
- The validated paper will be submitted directly to the Ministry of Finance and Parliament.

Join the discussion here: https://t.co/bOaaVB22CU

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

📌🇧🇼: HAPPENING THIS WEDNESDAY❕❕❕

YTJN and Botswana Watch Organization will bring together youth advocates, parliamentarians, civil society, and development partners in Gaborone.

The goal: Validate a Position Paper with evidence-based recommendations for a youth-responsive budget in Botswana.

This follows a February 2026 Pre-Budget Consultative Dialogue that brought 19 participants together, including Members of Parliament, to shape the FY2026/27 national budget.

📅: 3rd June 2026
⏰: 0830 HRS
🔗: https://t.co/bOaaVB22CU

Why it matters:

☑️Botswana scores only 13/100 on Public Participation (Open Budget Survey, 2023)
☑️Youth make up over 60% of the population, yet remain excluded from fiscal decision-making
☑️The validated paper will be submitted directly to the Ministry of Finance and Parliament

#Youth4TaxJustice #Botswana #SADC #DRM

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

In 2022, only 31% of people in sub-Saharan Africa used safely managed drinking water. The global average? 73%.

USD 88.6 billion leaves Africa every year through illicit financial flows (#IFFs). Nearly twice the annual official development aid Africa receives.

And yet, African youth are routinely left out of #budget consultations, parliamentary debates, and international #tax negotiations.

Three broken promises. SDG 6. SDG 10. SDG 16.

#Inequality in Africa is a product of fiscal systems that allow wealth to exit without being taxed and public services to go unfunded. That is something advocacy, organising, and political pressure can change.

Read more: https://t.co/XKnkcNVown

#Youth4TaxJustice

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

Building your first home or growing a small construction business? The costs could be higher thanks to the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2026.

Current law: Excise duty on cement stands at Shs 500 per 50kg bag, keeping materials somewhat affordable for young builders.

Proposed FY 2026/27: This jumps to Shs 1,000 per bag, doubling the tax on a staple material.

Broader impacts likely to hit youth hardest: Skyrocketing home construction expenses mean delayed dreams for first-time buyers, strained budgets for small-scale entrepreneurs, and ripple effects like higher rental prices across Uganda. Families postpone moves, youth hustles slow down, and the housing crisis deepens. Is doubling taxes on essentials the way to build a fair economy?

How does this proposal affect your plans? Reply with your story or concerns below

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

Today, Youth for Tax Justice Network (YTJN) is participating in the SADC Parliamentary Forum's TIFI Committee Statutory Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The meeting brings together Members of Parliament, civil society organisations, and technical experts to tackle some of the most pressing issues in our region:

✅ Protectionism and #nontariff #barriers that slow down intra-regional trade
✅ Tax avoidance practices that drain domestic revenue from SADC member states
✅ The role of parliaments in enacting laws that support fair trade and tax cooperation
✅ Advancing the SADC Model Law on Critical Minerals

As a member of the TIFI Technical Working Group since July 2025, YTJN continues to contribute technical expertise and youth perspectives to these regional processes. The Technical Working Group directly supports the development and validation of SADC Model Laws, guides alignment with #Agenda2063 and the #SDGs, and coordinates mandate-related initiatives across all contributors.

YTJN remains committed to ensuring that youth voices are present and heard where decisions about public resources are made.

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

📍Reflections from New York, #ECOSOCYouthForum

YTJN Team Lead, @Mura_Allan, moderated a session on Partnerships and #Financing for #Youth, and the sitting agreed that the $4 trillion annual SDG financing gap is not an accident, but rather the result of deliberate choices about what gets funded, who sits on financing boards, and whose voices shape policy. Young people, particularly those in the Global South, continue to be left out of the very decisions that determine their futures.

🗣️| We are doing it on a zero #budget. Now imagine what we could do with real #investment and a seat at the table. - Nifasha Adelaide, co-founder of Zimbabwe's Refugee Coalition for Climate Action (@RCCA_Youth)

This is the work. Fair #taxation, #transparent public budgets, an end to illicit financial flows (#IFFs), and genuine youth participation in fiscal decisions are not side issues. They are the foundation.

Read More: https://t.co/4Um3BcQ6PM #FfD4Youth #Youth4TaxJustice #FightIFFs

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

What if the next wave of #youth #jobs in Uganda came from a sewing machine rather than a bale of Mivumba?

The proposed 30% levy on second-hand clothing #imports is designed to grow local textile manufacturing.

That could mean:
✅Jobs in garment production and design
✅Ugandan #fashion brands with room to grow
✅#Money and #skills staying inside the country

Rwanda did it. Ethiopia did it. #Uganda has the talent. Is local textile manufacturing Uganda's next big opportunity? #TaxJustice #TaxationUG #Youth4TaxJustice

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

YTJN Programs Manager @jon_kafuko left us some questions to ponder after his presentation last evening.

Who holds the flame for #education? You do.

But holding it is not enough. The flame needs fuel. Fair taxation. Binding global commitments. Revenue that stays in countries and reaches classrooms instead of draining through illicit financial flows.

We pushed the UN Tax Convention from voluntary to binding language on taxing rights and illicit financial flows. In coalition with the @GA4TJ, "agree to" became "shall." Words that move money.

Now you fuel it. Post about the #UNTaxConvention. Ask your government the tough questions. Connect illicit financial flows (#IFFs) to the teacher shortage. Connect tax justice to quality education.
Your platform is your power.
#HoldTheFlameHighforEducation #TaxJustice #FightIFFs #GAWE2026 #EducationTax #HoldTheFlameHigh

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

Africa faces the world's largest teacher shortage. 15 million teachers needed by 2030. Only 1 in 3 African governments met global #education funding benchmarks over the last decade.

The money exists. It is just not reaching classrooms.
Tax #evasion, corporate abuse, and illicit financial flows #IFFs strip African governments of the #revenue needed to pay, train, and retain #teachers. Families end up carrying 27% of total education costs because the system is not funded the way it should be.

Quality education requires qualified, supported teachers. Qualified, supported teachers require governments that collect taxes fairly and spend them accountably.

#HoldTheFlameHigh for Education. That is what tax justice looks like in practice. #GAWE2026

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

Last November, the global #tax negotiations came to Africa for the first time. Nairobi, Kenya.

YTJN was in the room. We submitted formal policy proposals. We briefed national delegations, pushing for binding language in the #UNTaxConvention, especially on taxing rights and illicit financial flows (#IFFs).

It worked. In January 2026, in coalition with the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, key articles shifted from "States Parties agree to" to "States Parties shall." One word. The difference between a recommendation and an obligation.

#IFFs drain billions from African governments every year. That money belongs in classrooms, in teachers' salaries, and in facilities.

We ought to #HoldTheFlameHigh for Education. #TaxJustice #Youth4TaxJustice #GAWE2026

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

You do not need a delegate badge to influence global tax negotiations. - @jon_kafuko

"During the #UNTaxConvention sessions in Nairobi, YTJN published daily round-ups, hosted delegate commentaries, and ran a public podcast. We made complex negotiations accessible to anyone with a phone."

That is what youth-led digital #advocacy looks like.
The UN Tax Convention shapes whether governments collect enough to pay teachers and fund #schools. Illicit financial flows (#IFFs) drain that #revenue. Social media is how you bring these conversations out of closed rooms.

Post. Ask hard questions. Tag your government. Connect tax justice to the classroom. That is power. Use it.

#GAWE2026 #HoldTheFlameHigh for Education #TaxJustice #Youth4TaxJustice

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

WEBINAR: HOLD THE FAME HIGH FOR EDUCATION

#GAWE2026 is calling on advocates, educators, youth movements, and civil society to keep demanding #accountability and sustained investment in education for all.

YTJN's Programs Manager, @jon_kafuko, will join the webinar to speak on the urgent connections between #taxjustice, equitable education #financing, and meaningful youth participation in global policy spaces.

His presentation will reflect on:
• Insights from Nairobi campaigners during the #UNTaxConvention intergovernmental sessions
• Why fair #taxation matters for quality and inclusive #education
• Opportunities for African youth to shape global education and financing agendas

Register; https://t.co/X5k05qe5W1
#Youth4TaxJustice #HoldTheFlameHigh

[Youth for Tax Justice Network @Youth_TJN]

Building your first home or growing a small construction business? The costs could be higher thanks to the #ExciseDuty Amendment Bill 2026.

Current law: Excise duty on cement stands at Shs 500 per 50kg bag, keeping materials somewhat affordable for young builders.

Proposed FY 2026/27: This jumps to Shs 1,000 per bag — doubling the tax on a staple material.

Broader impacts likely to hit youth hardest: ✅Skyrocketing home construction expenses mean delayed dreams for first-time buyers,
✅strained budgets for small-scale entrepreneurs, and
✅ripple effects like higher #rental prices across Uganda.

Families will likely postpone moves, youth hustles will slow, and the #housingcrisis will likely deepen. Is doubling #taxes on essentials the way to build a fair economy?

YTJN wants your voice: How does this proposal affect your plans? Reply with your story or concerns below