Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) continues to operate within a revenue and customs framework involving Crawford Capital Limited, a South Sudan-linked company sanctioned by the United States over allegations of diverting public resources and foreign assistance, documents seen by this publication show.
The documents raise questions about Uganda’s continued engagement with systems involving Crawford Capital, weeks after Washington targeted the company and warned that organisations continuing to deal with the sanctioned firm in transactions exceeding $50,000 risk being subjected to sanctions themselves.
On May 12, 2026, the United States announced sanctions against Crawford Capital, accusing the company of involvement in schemes through which public resources and foreign assistance intended for South Sudanese citizens were diverted.
Washington said the action formed part of broader measures against individuals and entities it accused of undermining South Sudan’s 2018 peace agreement, fuelling corruption and contributing to instability.
The U.S. warning adds a significant compliance concern for organisations that continue to transact with Crawford Capital following its designation.
Yet documents obtained by this publication show that Crawford has been integrated into South Sudan’s digital revenue ecosystem, a system that has an operational connection with Uganda Revenue Authority.
A memorandum issued by the Commissioner General of the South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA) on March 18, 2024, directed Crawford Capital and other service providers to integrate their systems into one SSRA digital ecosystem.
The memorandum specifically refers to contracts and memoranda of understanding between the companies and SSRA, the Office of the President, the Ministry of Finance and Planning, the Ministry of Trade and Industries and the Uganda Revenue Authority.
The SSRA Commissioner General directed the service providers to interface and integrate within one digital ecosystem to give the South Sudan Revenue Authority visibility and control over a single application programming interface (API).
The document does not, by itself, establish that URA directly contracted Crawford Capital or that URA has paid the company. Rather, it establishes that URA is expressly referenced in the wider contractual and memorandum framework surrounding the integration of the service providers into South Sudan’s revenue ecosystem.
A separate February 23, 2026 letter provides further evidence of the close digital and operational relationship between SSRA and URA.
In the letter, the SSRA Kampala Liaison Office formally requested official viewing rights to URA’s ASYCUDA system for selected SSRA customs officials based in Kampala and Gulu.
The request was linked to efforts to strengthen monitoring and enforcement of the e-permit system for goods entering South Sudan through the Kenya-Uganda and Uganda-South Sudan corridors.
SSRA said access to the URA system would enable its officials to track and validate permits, monitor customs compliance, coordinate enforcement operations with URA and identify discrepancies in real time.
The letter therefore demonstrates that SSRA and URA have an active information-sharing and customs cooperation arrangement involving revenue and trade data.
Another document dated June 2, 2026 shows that SSRA has established a continuing regional presence in Uganda.
In a letter to South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the SSRA Commissioner General requested diplomatic passports for officials appointed to represent the authority in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Two of the officials were designated for the Kampala station, with the authority saying they would oversee regional operations and facilitate revenue and customs cooperation.
The documents come against the backdrop of Washington’s increasingly hard line towards South Sudan’s political and commercial networks.
The United States said Crawford Capital was among entities identified by investigative organisations as being involved in the diversion of public resources. Washington’s sanctions were announced alongside visa restrictions against members of South Sudan’s transitional government accused of obstructing implementation of the 2018 peace agreement.
The U.S. action has consequently put Crawford’s continued operations under a different level of scrutiny, particularly in neighbouring countries where its systems or business relationships intersect with government revenue and customs operations.
The documentary trail does not establish that URA has violated U.S. sanctions or that it has entered into a prohibited transaction with Crawford Capital. It does, however, show that Uganda’s revenue authority remains part of a regional customs and digital-revenue architecture in which Crawford Capital is a service provider on the South Sudan side.
The key question now is whether any continued technical, contractual or financial dealings involving Crawford Capital amount to transactions that fall within the scope of the U.S. sanctions, particularly given Washington’s warning that organisations engaging in transactions exceeding $50,000 with the sanctioned company risk sanctions.
Neither URA nor Crawford Capital had, at the time of publication, provided an explanation on whether Crawford continues to provide services connected to the Uganda-South Sudan revenue interface following the U.S. designation.
For Uganda, the issue could become increasingly significant as the two countries deepen cross-border customs integration and as SSRA maintains a permanent liaison presence in Kampala.
What began as a South Sudan corruption and sanctions matter could therefore increasingly become a regional compliance issue, placing Uganda’s revenue and customs authorities under scrutiny over their continued interaction with systems and entities connected to a company now targeted by Washington.