I Think Our Soldiers’ Pay Should Match Their Sacrifice
Oct 01, 2003
SIR— I commend President Yoweri Museveni for the noble and uncomparable efforts towards elevating Uganda’s political, social and economic progress, save for the military.
SIR— I commend President Yoweri Museveni for the noble and uncomparable efforts towards elevating Uganda’s political, social and economic progress, save for the military. In the field of military, our gallant soldiers, the UPDF have done a great job in fighting for peace, especially in the war-torn areas of the north and north-east of Uganda. My concern is about the welfare of our soldiers. Sometimes I wonder whether the president and Parliament are aware of the salaries of the ordinary soldiers n UPDF. You can imagine a private who has spent most of his life since 1988, in the bush fighting rebels, being paid a mere sh138,000, yet a policeman in Nawaikoke who takes more than two years without hearing the sound of a bullet is paid more than sh150,000. Even a private security guard in Saracen is paid better than a private in the UPDF. This is an irony.
A soldier if given a new uniform will stay with it for only two weeks, by the times he comes back from pursuing rebels in the bush, the uniform is in pieces. That is the nature of their job, and mind you, they are very loyal to their supervisors. A junior officer in the UPDF is paid a mere sh236,600 only. You can’t even compare him to a private in one of our neighbouring countries like Kenya. Yet soldiers in Kenya are not fatigued. Besides these, UPDF officers are people who are educated, to the level of degrees and diplomas in various fields. For your information, the more junior you are in the UPDF, the more work you do.
So our “gallant soldiers†should be paid highly, given the nature of their job and the risks involved in.
Therefore, I appeal to the President and the Ministry of Defence to reconsider our soldiers’ welfare as this will motivate them and increase their morale to protect the civilian and their property.
Patrick Mugabi
Luweero
A soldier if given a new uniform will stay with it for only two weeks, by the times he comes back from pursuing rebels in the bush, the uniform is in pieces. That is the nature of their job, and mind you, they are very loyal to their supervisors. A junior officer in the UPDF is paid a mere sh236,600 only. You can’t even compare him to a private in one of our neighbouring countries like Kenya. Yet soldiers in Kenya are not fatigued. Besides these, UPDF officers are people who are educated, to the level of degrees and diplomas in various fields. For your information, the more junior you are in the UPDF, the more work you do.
So our “gallant soldiers†should be paid highly, given the nature of their job and the risks involved in.
Therefore, I appeal to the President and the Ministry of Defence to reconsider our soldiers’ welfare as this will motivate them and increase their morale to protect the civilian and their property.
Patrick Mugabi
Luweero