Fix minimum wage, govt told

Sep 04, 2009

A FORMER Uganda Human Rights Commissioner has appealed to the Government to immediately set a minimum wage.

By Madinah Tebajjukkira

A FORMER Uganda Human Rights Commissioner has appealed to the Government to immediately set a minimum wage.

Aliro Omara said the move would protect workers from exploitation.

“We thank the Government for encouraging investors. Though we have many investors, it will not cause development because they cheat workers. They give them anything they want. We must not give blanket powers to the investors,” he said.

Omara made the remarks while presenting a paper at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala yesterday.

He noted that the lack of a minimum wage has increased violation of workers rights.

Omara disclosed that during his tenure, the commission received many complaints of poor pay but they could not be conclusively dispensed because of lack of strong labour laws.

He urged the Government to implement the Minimum Wage Act.

“We should not allow investors to do whatever they want. We have had many cases, but complainants are always intimidated and they give up.”

Omara advised the Government to consider the inflation rate when setting the minimum wage.

The workshop, organised by the rights body, was aimed at sensitising MPs on the guidelines developed by the agency.

MPs blamed the organisation for centralising its activities in urban centres, saying this had led to low levels of rights awareness in the countryside.

They added that this had increased cases of rights violation in villages.

Willy Agirembabazi, the acting senior human rights officer, however, said the rights body had few branches upcountry due to limited funding.

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