Background: Uganda's Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), introduced in 2018, represents a paradigm shift from knowledge-centered to skills-oriented learning, explicitly advocating for learner-centered approaches that promote critical thinking and higher-order cognitive skills. Objective: This study critically analyzed the extent to which Uganda's CBC fosters critical thinking through integration of the "why" question versus emphasizing practical competency development, assessing the balance between producing critical thinkers and efficient doers in curriculum design, instructional practices, and assessment mechanisms. Methods: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed across 45 purposively selected schools in urban, peri-urban, and rural settings. The quantitative phase involved 268 teachers completing validated questionnaires (Cronbach's α=0.87) assessing pedagogical practices and 1,340 students completing Critical Thinking Disposition Inventories and Competency Performance Assessments. Results: Document analysis revealed task-oriented instructions outnumbered critical thinking prompts by 1:3.7 across all curriculum materials (χ²=4372.89, p<.001), with assessment guidelines showing 1:5.2 ratio (83.8% task-oriented). Significant geographical disparities emerged in instructional practices: urban teachers emphasized "why" questions more frequently (M=3.82) and allocated greater time to discussion (31.4%) compared to rural teachers (M=2.89, 19.8%; F=38.42, p<.001, η²=.224), while rural teachers focused more heavily on task-oriented competency demonstration (M=4.48, 51.6% time allocation). Conclusion: Uganda's CBC predominantly produces efficient doers rather than critical thinkers, with this orientation embedded in curriculum design, assessment architecture, and structural constraints that systematically privilege observable competencies over higher-order cognitive development. The curriculum's written structure, pedagogical