Kibenge added that despite legal requirements under the Employment Act for employers to maintain registers, submit employment returns, and provide information to labour officers, weak reporting systems, limited digital infrastructure, and low compliance levels continue to undermine the availability of real-time, enterprise-level data.
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has unveiled a new initiative aimed at strengthening labour market governance, evidence-based decision-making, and productivity monitoring in Uganda.
Dubbed the Labour, Employment, Productivity and Reporting Programme (LEAP), the initiative seeks to establish an integrated, reliable, and timely administrative data ecosystem for labour, employment, and productivity reporting across the country.
Speaking during a consultative workshop on the draft programme in Entebbe on Monday, June 15, 2026, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Aggrey David Kibenge, said LEAP will be fully aligned with the Employment Act (Cap 226), national statistical requirements, and the International Labour Organisation’s labour statistics conventions.
He said the programme is intended to support evidence-based planning, monitoring, and policy formulation while responding to the growing demand for reliable labour market information to guide job creation, enterprise development, wage reforms, social protection expansion, and productivity enhancement.
In remarks delivered on his behalf by Alex Asiimwe, the Commissioner for Labour, Industrial Relations and Productivity, Kibenge noted that Uganda’s labour market governance system continues to face challenges related to the generation, quality, and utilisation of administrative data needed for national planning, compliance monitoring, and international reporting.
“Although the UBOS 2024 Census and the Labour Force Survey 2021 provide nationally representative statistics showing unemployment at 12.3 per cent, labour underutilisation at 42 per cent, and informality at 88 per cent, administrative data from labour inspections, employment records, enterprise productivity assessments, and social security contributions remain fragmented, incomplete, and inconsistently reported,” he said.
Kibenge added that despite legal requirements under the Employment Act for employers to maintain registers, submit employment returns, and provide information to labour officers, weak reporting systems, limited digital infrastructure, and low compliance levels continue to undermine the availability of real-time, enterprise-level data.
According to him, the lack of comprehensive administrative data makes it difficult to effectively track employment trends, productivity performance, working conditions, and labour market transitions.
“The LEAP Programme has therefore been developed as the national mechanism to strengthen administrative data generation, harmonise reporting standards, and ensure that labour market information is timely, accurate, and actionable,” he said.
Kibenge called on stakeholders to actively contribute to the development of the programme and support its implementation once finalised.
“This workshop is a critical step in the development of the LEAP Programme. It provides an opportunity to draw upon the knowledge, expertise, and experiences of key stakeholders to ensure that the programme is practical, responsive, and aligned with the realities of Uganda’s labour market,” he said.
The four-day workshop has brought together representatives from employers’ and workers’ organisations, ministries, departments and agencies, local governments, and development partners.
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